Reinforcement of Religious Exemptions in the U.S. Military

U.S. Navy SEALS 1-26 v. Biden, 4:22-cv-01236-O (N.D. Tex.)

After nearly three years of litigation, the Navy SEALs case was finally recently resolved after the court approved the settlement reached with the U.S. Department of the Navy.

The lawsuit was originally filed on behalf of dozens of U.S. Navy SEALs, other members of the Navy Special Warfare community, and Navy Special Operators and was later expanded to cover a class of all Navy service members who had religious objections to the military’s vaccine mandate. It’s a full and complete victory that rights the wrongs done to these service members. Plus, this settlement impacts many more of America’s military personnel. It’s a broad win that gives all Navy service members - and the rest of the U.S. Military - more religious freedom protections than ever before.

In addition to the original injunction and the precedent set to protect all within the military, here’s how Navy service members will benefit:

• 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.

• The Navy agreed 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.”

• Servicemembers who elected to leave service after being mistreated by the Navy will 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.