The Navy will clear records for sailors who refused the COVID-19 vaccine due to religious objections, according to a lawsuit settlement reached between the service and sailors last week.
The settlement, which comes nearly three years after the original filing of the lawsuit and was finalized Thursday, states that the Navy will correct records for sailors who declined the COVID-19 vaccine due to religious reasons, according to First Liberty Institute, a religious liberty legal organization that first sued in November 2021 on behalf of dozens of Navy SEALs and special forces members who refused the vaccine.
It was later expanded to a class-action lawsuit representing thousands of sailors.
Nearly 2,000 sailors were separated for refusing the vaccine, the Navy said last year.
Additionally, this week’s settlement seeks to protect these sailors’ careers and stipulates that promotion boards “must not consider any adverse information related solely to COVID-19 vaccine refusal in cases in which a religious accommodation was requested,” according to the group.
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According to the settlement, the Navy will “re-review the personnel records of all Class Members to ensure that the U.S. Navy has permanently removed records indicating administrative separation processing or proceedings, formal counseling, and non-judicial punishment actions taken against the Class Member solely on the basis of non-compliance with the COVID-19 Mandate and adverse information related to non-compliance with the COVID-19 Mandate.”
The Navy also agreed to issue additional training for commanders who review religious accommodation requests, share a statement upholding the Navy’s commitment to respect religious service members, and to cover $1.5 million in legal fees.
The Navy first announced in October 2021 that it would separate sailors who refused to comply with the Department of Defense’s mandatory vaccination policy.
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The Navy declined to comment on the settlement.
A federal judge issued an injunction in January 2022 that blocked the Navy from penalizing these Navy SEALs and special forces members, and both the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court and the Supreme Court upheld the injunction.
“This has been a long and difficult journey, but the Navy SEALs never gave up,” Danielle Runyan, Chair of the Military Practice Group and Senior Counsel at First Liberty Institute, said in a statement. “We are thrilled that those members of the Navy who were guided by their conscience and steadfast in their faith will not be penalized in their Navy careers.”
