A sailor receives a COVID-19 vaccination in USS Gerald R. Ford’s hangar bay in May 2021. Sailors who refused the COVID-19 vaccine on religious grounds and had adverse actions taken by the Navy as a result can have their records corrected, according to the terms of a lawsuit settlement reached last week. (Jackson Adkins/U.S. Navy)
Navy sailors who faced disciplinary actions related to their refusal to comply with the COVID-19 vaccine mandate on account of religion can correct their service records and protect their careers as part of a recently settled lawsuit.
The settlement, which was approved by a Texas federal judge last week, involves a lawsuit filed in 2021 on behalf of 26 Navy SEALs and several other Special Warfare sailors.
The suit alleged that the service and the Defense Department had violated the First Amendment rights of service members who had religious objections to the vaccine mandate. It also claimed that the Navy and DOD violated the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which prohibits federal agencies, departments or officials from violating the free exercise of religion.
The SEALs’ lawsuit subsequently was expanded to include a class of all Navy service members who had religious objections to the vaccine, First Liberty Institute, the law firm representing the sailors, said in a statement July 24 announcing approval of the settlement the same day.
Under the settlement, the Navy must recheck personnel records of service members covered by the lawsuit to ensure that all documented adverse actions taken solely due to vaccine mandate refusal are permanently deleted, according to federal court records.
Those adverse actions include administrative separation proceedings and processes, formal counseling and nonjudicial punishment.
“This has been a long and difficult journey, but the Navy SEALs never gave up,” Danielle Runyan, senior counsel for First Liberty Institute, said in the 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.”
On Tuesday, the Navy said it did not have a statement regarding the settlement.
But in rescinding his August 2021 order mandating vaccination against COVID-19, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he believed that the order was correct and that the services would continue to promote the vaccine.
“All commanders have the responsibility and authority to preserve the department’s compelling interest in mission accomplishment,” Austin said in January 2023.
The settlement also requires the Navy to correct the records of service members who left the service rather than face punishment for their religious objections to the vaccine.
The records of those covered by the lawsuit who were discharged solely because they refused the vaccine also must be reviewed, and any indication that the individual was removed for misconduct must be deleted.
In addition, the service must ensure that the records of those service members reflect that they are eligible for reenlistment, court records show.
Moreover, the Navy must pay $1.5 million in attorneys fees and make a public statement affirming its respect for religious service members.
The service also agreed to provide more training for commanders who review religious accommodation requests, among other stipulations, according to the First Liberty Institute statement.
It’s unclear how many service members may be affected by the settlement, but the Navy stopped the COVID-19 vaccine-related separations of 4,095 sailors who objected to the vaccine on account of religion in March 2022, USNI news reported at the time.
That action came after a federal judge granted class-action certification in the SEALs’ case and issued a preliminary injunction forbidding the Navy from separating or taking other disciplinary actions against sailors represented in the lawsuit, according to court records.
However, the Navy retained the ability to take vaccination status into account when making deployment, assignment and other operational decisions.
