In Snyder v. Chicago Transit Authority, (7th Cir., June 30, 2026), the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the firing of a Chicago Transit Authority bus driver for refusing to comply with CTA’s Covid vaccine mandate after his request for a religious exemption was denied. The court said in part:
… Snyder submitted a request for a religious exemption. He explained that he practiced “the laws of cleanliness” and adhered to dietary rules outlined in the biblical books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy. He explained that the Bible instructed him to “refrain from the ingestion of unclean animals,” including “pork or derivatives, such as gelatin which are in most vaccines.” He also attached a letter from his minister explaining that vaccines were “inconsistent” with their beliefs, though individuals had discretion to choose which vaccines and immunizations they received.
… Snyder also cited concerns about the presence of heavy metals in most vaccinations, potential long-term risks, and the rush with which the vaccine was approved….
But even accepting the religious significance of Snyder’s belief that Biblical laws prohibited him from ingesting certain ingredients, the [district] court wrote, Snyder did not connect this belief to any content in the COVID vaccine that he was religiously obligated to avoid…. The court thus concluded that there was no evidence from which a reasonable jury could find that his grounds for objecting to the vaccine were religious in nature….