Federal Judge Keeps Religious Exemption Suit Against DLA Piper’s Vaccination Requirement

DLA Piper must face claims that it failed to accommodate a former employee’s religious exemption request against the firm’s COVID-19 vaccination requirement, a federal judge ruled this week.

On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge John R. Blakey of the Northern District of Illinois denied DLA Piper’s motion to dismiss an employment discrimination suit brought by Ryan Shepherd, who worked for the firm’s hospitality department at the Chicago office. In response to a vaccination mandate, Shepherd sought an exemption in October 2021, claiming that direct injections of “foreign biological materials” went against his beliefs as a Christian. The human resources department denied his request as his role required daily presence in the office but offered him the opportunity to look for a remote position within the firm.