San Francisco must rehire Christian employees who didn't get vaccinated: appeals court

SAN FRANCISCO - A federal appeals court is ordering San Francisco to re-hire two former city workers who left due to COVID vaccination requirements.

The San Francisco first reported the development.

Selina Keene and Melody Fountila retired when The City required all 25,000 city workers to get vaccinated by the end of November 2021.

They are both Christians who objected to taking the vaccines, claiming the shots were developed from aborted fetuses.

COVID vaccines do not contain any fetal cells, but cells were used during lab testing.

In a ruling issued on Thursday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said, "Vaccine mandates like the one (San Francisco) was attempting to impose presented a crisis of conscience for many people of faith."

"Forcing individuals to choose between their faith and their livelihood imposes an obvious and substantial burden on religion," the three-judge panel wrote. Because of the city’s mandate, the court said, the women were "forced to choose between their religious beliefs and their careers."

The court ordered U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White of Oakland, who had previously dismissed the women’s lawsuit, to require San Francisco to rehire them on the conditions the women had previously proposed.

They must be allowed to either work remotely, or return to their offices with whatever protective measures the city requires for other workers.

The ruling didn't state what the women did for a living.