From Military.com: The U.S. Navy has reached a settlement with sailors who filed a lawsuit over the service’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, ending a nearly four-year saga that pitted Navy SEALs and other service members against their commander in chief.
Under an agreement in the case announced Wednesday, Navy sailors who refused the vaccine for religious reasons can now have their records corrected and will be protected against discrimination on promotion boards for the next three years, according to their attorneys.
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 a release from the First Liberty Institute, a nonprofit legal organization that defends religious liberties, and the law firm Hacker Stephens LLP.
The Navy also agreed to review the personnel records of all plaintiffs to ensure that the service expunged any information on administrative separation, counseling or nonjudicial punishment for failing to comply with the mandate.
It will also correct the records of members who left the service and post a public statement “affirming the Navy’s respect for religious service members,” among other requirements.
The lawsuit, U.S. Navy SEALs 1-26 v. Biden, alleged that the Navy and the Defense Department violated their First Amendment rights to religious freedom by “categorically denying” their requests for religious exemptions from the COVID-19 vaccine. . . .
. . . .The Justice Department had requested that the suit be dismissed, but the court denied the request and “the parties reached a settlement on behalf of all class members,” according to attorneys for the plaintiffs.
The Navy also agreed to pay $1.5 million in legal fees to the plaintiffs’ attorneys. Previously, the attorneys were awarded $1.8 million in a separate settlement of a suit against the Defense Department.
The plaintiffs will not receive any of the compensation in either settlement, and a settlement is not an admission of guilt or wrongdoing by either party. . . . (read more)
Navy SEALs, Personnel Denied Religious Accommodation from COVID Vaccine Mandate Reach Settlement with Navy (First Liberty)
Navy SEALs, Personnel Denied Religious Accommodation from COVID Vaccine Mandate Reach Settlement with Navy
Settlement says Navy class members’ careers will not be impacted by refusal to take vaccine, more training for commanders on religious liberty.
Ft. Worth, TX—First Liberty Institute and Hacker Stephens LLP announced a settlement with the U.S. Department of the Navy on behalf of thousands of Navy service members. The lawsuit was originally filed on behalf of dozens of Navy SEALs and Navy Special Operators and was later expanded to cover a class of all Navy servicemembers who had religious objections to the COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
The settlement ensures that Navy service members who refused the COVID vaccine for religious reasons will now have an opportunity to have their records corrected and their careers protected, considering the next three promotion “boards must not consider any adverse information related solely to COVID-19 vaccine refusal in cases in which a religious accommodation was requested.”
Servicemembers who elected to leave service after being mistreated by the Navy will also get their records corrected.
The Navy also agreed to post a statement affirming the Navy’s respect for religious service members, provide more training for commanders who review religious accommodation requests, revise a policy related to accommodation requests that was changed during the mandate, and pay $1.5 million in attorneys’ fees.
“This has been a long and difficult journey, but the Navy SEALs never gave up,” said Danielle Runyan, Chair of the Military Practice Group and Senior Counsel at First Liberty Institute. “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.”
“This was a hard-fought but significant victory for all members of the military and the principle of religious liberty,” added Heather Gebelin Hacker, lead counsel for the class along with Andrew Stephens and a partner at Hacker Stephens LLP.
Service members can get more information about the settlement at navyvaxsettlement.com.
In the settlement, the Navy agrees to “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.”
In January 2022, First Liberty Institute and the law firm Hacker Stephens LLP won the first major victory in the nation against the military’s vaccine mandate in Navy SEALs 1-26, et al v. Biden in Fort Worth, Texas, and later expanded the case into a class action on behalf of all affected Navy members, securing injunctive relief that prevented the Navy from kicking out these service members with religious objections to the vaccine.
Both the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld that injunction. And even though the Fifth Circuit last year ruled the Navy’s appeal of the injunction was moot because Congress rescinded the vaccine mandate, the court made clear that the case could continue in the district court to evaluate the Navy’s broader religious discrimination that came to light because of the mandate.
Attorneys asked the United States District Court Northern District of Texas Fort Worth Division to dismiss the lawsuit. But because harms from the mandate still linger, the Court denied that request and the parties reached a settlement on behalf of all class members that was approved by the Court today.
First Liberty Institute is the largest legal organization in the nation dedicated exclusively to defending religious freedom for all Americans.
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