Supreme Court Turns Down Challenge to New York’s Vaccine Mandate

The Supreme Court in Washington on Aug. 31, 2026. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times

Supreme Court justices turned away a challenge to New York’s COVID-19 mandate for healthcare workers on Sept. 4.

The justices did not explain their decision, and it was not clear if any favored approving the petition for rehearing. A majority of the nine justices is needed to accept such petitions.

The case was brought by New York healthcare workers over the state rescinding religious exemptions for its COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

That led to the sacking of a number of healthcare workers, including those who sued in federal court, with cases advancing even after the mandate was repealed in late 2023.

Two lower courts ruled against the workers, including the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

The appeals court said even if plaintiffs plausibly alleged violations of employee rights under the federal Civil Rights Act, it had ruled against them because granting religious exemptions “would have required the Private Defendants to violate the state regulation.”

This would have subjected the employers to financial penalties or suspensions of their operating licenses, it said.

Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, employers do not need to offer reasonable accommodation for an employee’s religious views if doing so would cause the employers to face “an undue hardship.”

The appeals court concluded that such a hardship was faced because of the potential violation of state law and the repercussions that would follow.

In June, the Supreme Court rejected the workers’ request for the nation’s top court to take up the case.

Justice Neil Gorsuch dissented, writing that the appeals court posture was suspect because it applies even if the law violates the Constitution.

That posture “would appear to leave states free to strip individuals of the protections guaranteed by so many federal civil rights statutes ... all by the simple expedient of proscribing accommodations those statutes promise.”

Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito joined in the dissent.

The workers then filed a petition for rehearing.

According to the petition, there was a split among circuit courts “that is growing by the day” and should be settled by the Supreme Court.

“This is a simple case that the court should take up because it presents a recurring and ongoing issue where state law, even unconstitutional as this one is, can be used to trump federal law,” Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, who has been representing the plaintiffs, told The Epoch Times previously.

The Supreme Court’s rejection of the new petition came without requesting a response from defendants.