Tennessee’s Covid Vax Objector Shield Not Barred by Federal Law

Tyson Foods Inc. again failed with a bid to dismiss a lawsuit by a Tennessee pork processing plant employee who says her religious objection to its Covid-19 vaccination mandate wasn’t properly accommodated, resulting in her discharge.

The ruling Thursday by the US District Court for the Western District of Tennessee addressed the apparently novel question of whether a state law protecting individuals who harbor objections to taking a Covid vaccine is preempted by a pandemic-related federal executive order aimed at meat and poultry processing businesses or the Federal Meat Inspection Act. Tyson failed to show that Tennessee Code Annotated §14-2-102(a), ...