Judge Stops Navy from Discharging Any Religious Vaccine Refusers

Fresh off of a Supreme Court decision that saw his previous vaccine-refuser injunction narrowed, a federal judge in Texas issued a new order Monday that turns the case into a class-action lawsuit and halts the Navy from discharging vaccine-refusing sailors Navy-wide.

In January, U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor told the Navy that it could not discipline or discharge 35 sailors – mostly Navy SEALs – who were suing over their religious exemption denials. That order was upheld by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Yet the Supreme Court disagreed in part and ruled that, while the special operators couldn’t be discharged, the Navy was allowed to use their vaccination status to make operational and deployment decisions.