Report by Paula Antolini, October 7, 2021, 7:02PM EDT
Oct 7, 2021 / LIBERTY COUNSEL
NEW YORK, NY – Pfizer sent an email to all employees informing them of the requirement for all U.S. employees to be fully vaccinated by November 15, 2021. The deadline to submit religious exemption requests is tomorrow October 8, 2021.
In Pfizer’s communication with employees, a “Religious Reasonable Accommodation Request (COVID-19 Vaccinations & Masking Requirements) link was provided to be completed by the October 8 deadline and a “Religious Accommodation Guidance” link was provided as a reference only after an employee requested the exemption.
“The process for the Religious Accommodations includes an online form that is not so much an accommodation but rather an inquisition. The form is full of questions to critique the validity of someone’s faith based on a one-way digital survey which is completely arbitrary. This was not communicated in advance; rather it was received upon employees taking the initiative to solicit Pfizer for additional information on the process and guidance which Pfizer responded to a week later. Not timely, for the deadline to submit accommodations is October 8, 2021. I feel like this process is discriminatory and unlawful. It does NOT feel that Pfizer is genuinely evaluating Religious Accommodations rather they are positioning themselves to act as the arbiter of our faith. This has been the most antagonistic process that I have ever experienced in my life,” said an anonymous employee.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) did a bait and switch last month by announcing it approved its “first COVID-19 vaccine” in order to push the “vaccine” mandates and protect the Pfizer pharmaceutical company from legal liability. The BioNTech version called Comirnaty was approved. While substantively the same as Pfizer, Comirnaty and Pfizer are legally different. Pfizer remains under EUA. The new BioNTech label of Comirnaty is approved, but it is not available in the United States. There is currently NO FDA-approved COVID-19 injection available anywhere in the United States. Every COVID shot in America remains under the EUA law and thus people have the “option to accept or refuse” them.
Furthermore, COVID shots cannot be mandatory under Title VII. In general, employee vaccine religious exemption requests must be accommodated, where a reasonable accommodation exists without undue hardship to the employer, under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Many people hold sincere religious beliefs against taking any vaccines, or taking those derived from aborted fetal cell lines, or taking those sold by companies that profit from the sale of vaccines and other products derived from abortion. Title VII, as amended, prohibits two categories of employment practices. It is unlawful for an employer: “(1) to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin; or (2) to limit, segregate, or classify his employees or applicants for employment in any way which would deprive or tend to deprive any individual of employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect his status as an employee, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.”
An employer can question the employee’s belief to find out if they are sincere, meaning they’re not merely using religion as a basis for their request just to avoid the COVID shots. The employer can ask what they believe, why they believe it, how it affects their life decisions and their decision regarding the COVID shots. An employer cannot question the validity or correctness of religious beliefs. The employer cannot ask why the employee is interpreting a scripture in a particular way, or why the employee objects to the COVID shot when others in their church or religious order either have no position or even support the shots.
For more information on religious exemptions click on this link for Liberty Counsel’s website.
Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said, “Pfizer is apparently trying to make the process of being approved for a religious exemption difficult. Especially with having not widely shared the information with their employees well in advance. They know that there is currently no FDA-approved COVID shot available in the United States, including Comirnaty. Even if there were an FDA-approved COVID shot available, people still may request that employers, schools, and the military accommodate their sincerely held religious beliefs.”
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