Santa Clara County sued on behalf of 33 employees placed on unpaid leave for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine due to their religious beliefs.
Advocates for Faith & Freedom, together with Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz, represents 33 current and former Santa Clara County employees who were denied religious accommodations to the COVID-19 vaccine mandate. Despite sincerely held religious objections, these employees were placed on indefinite, unpaid leave and stripped of their livelihoods.
The lawsuit argues that Santa Clara County violated the Free Exercise Clause of the U.S. Constitution, Title VII, and California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act by refusing to provide reasonable accommodations—such as masking or testing—even after the State permitted such measures. Many employees were wrongly deemed “high risk,” including individuals who worked outdoors or in isolation.
A related case has already found that the County’s policies favored medical exemptions while unfairly targeting religious exemptions. Plaintiffs, ranging from nurses and probation counselors to roofers and sheriff’s deputies, suffered severe financial and personal harm for adhering to their faith.
Press Release
ADVOCATES FOR FAITH & FREEDOM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: thursday, august 28, 2025
CONTACT: lori sanada at
media@faith-freedom.COM
SANTA CLARA COUNTY EMPLOYEES SUE COUNTY FOR FAILING TO ACCOMMODATE THEIR RELIGIOUS BELIEFS
Murrieta, CA — Advocates for Faith and Freedom in conjunction with Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz have filed suit in the Northern District of California on behalf of 33 current and former Santa Clara County employees against Santa Clara County for failing to accommodate their religious beliefs. Plaintiffs allege religious discrimination in violation of the Free Exercise Clause of the Constitution, Title VII, and California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act.
In late 2021, the County began placing employees on indefinite, unpaid administrative leave if they could not get the COVID-19 vaccine due to their deeply held religious beliefs and were deemed by the County to be in ‘high-risk’ positions. Many positions were wrongly classified as high risk—such as the roofer who worked alone in the open air.
For those who did work in allegedly “high-risk” positions, they were not provided with reasonable accommodations to allow them to continue to work. And once the rest of the State permitted non-vaccinated individuals to return to work with accommodations that included masking and testing, Santa Clara County refused to consider such accommodations for the religiously exempt.
Furthermore, in a related case brought by Advocates, a federal judge has already found that the County’s policy which gave employees with a disability or medical contraindication exemption to the vaccine mandate likely operated “in a way that targets” religious practice and disadvantaged religious exemptions compared to secular exemptions.
For standing up for their religious beliefs, Plaintiffs were indefinitely deprived of their source of income, forcing many to face serious financial hardships. “Our firm is proud to represent these Plaintiffs, who were willing to give up everything, including livelihoods, health insurance and, in some cases, their houses and personal belongings, to remain faithful to their beliefs” says Sam Kane an attorney for Advocates for Faith & Freedom. “Discrimination and the needless harm to people because of their faith cannot be tolerated.”
Advocates for Faith & Freedom is a non-profit law firm dedicated to protecting constitutional and religious liberty in the courts. Our mission is to engage in cases that will uphold our religious liberty and America’s heritage and to educate Americans about our fundamental constitutional rights.
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About Advocates for Faith & Freedom (www.faith-freedom.com): Advocates for Faith & Freedom is a non-profit law firm dedicated to protecting constitutional and religious liberty in the courts.
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