U.S. Government Settles with Navy Seals Fired for Refusing COVID Shots

U.S. Navy sailors and the Biden administration have reached a settlement in a legal battle that has lasted nearly four years over the Department of Defense (DoD) COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The settlement provides that sailors who refused to take the COVID shots for religious belief reasons will have their record expunged and will be protected against discrimination for promotions over the next three years.¹

As part of the settlement, there is a provision related to promotions that prevents the promotion boards from considering “any adverse information related solely to COVID shot refusal in cases in which a religious accommodation was requested.”²

The personnel records of all the sailors subject to this lawsuit will be reviewed and any information on consequences for refusing to take the controversial shot will be expunged. Meanwhile, sailors no longer with the Navy will have their records corrected and a public statement will be issued.³

Navy Failed to Approve Religious Exemptions to COVID Shot Mandate and Punished the Unvaccinated

Between Aug. 25, and Sept. 9, 2021, the Biden administration issued federal COVID shot mandates for all members of the U.S. military,⁴ federal employees and contractors, and businesses with 100 or more employees to get COVID-19 shots.⁵ Military service personnel were ordered to get COVID shots by Dec. 14, 2021. While religious exemptions were permitted, the Navy initially failed to approve any of the 3,247 requests for a religious exemption.⁶ By January 2023, more than 16,000 members of the military had requested religious exemptions from the COVID shots, many of which were denied.

Some 1,566 sailors were discharged for failing to take the shots and, overall, 7,705 U.S. military personnel were discharged. The discharged sailors were not eligible for reenlistment.⁷ In some cases, fired service members were required to pay back their signing bonuses up to $7,000. Some Navy Seals were informed that they would be responsible for paying the government back for their training, which could be thousands of dollars, and others had to return the “Trident” pin they earned.⁸

Navy Seals Denied Religious Exemptions to COVID Shots Sue Biden Administration

In response, 35 Navy Seals represented by the First Liberty Institute filed a lawsuit against President Joe Biden alleging that they faced disciplinary repercussions for filing a religious exemption, including being kept apart from vaccinated colleagues as well as dismissals. The Navy Seals Complaint argues that that the Navy violated the Free Exercise of Religion Clause of the Constitution and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) when no action was taken on their religious exemption requests.^{9 10}

The U.S. District Court sided with the Navy Seals and issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Navy from punishing the Navy Seals who had filed religious exemptions. The injunction barred the Navy from declaring the unvaccinated Navy Seals non-deployable or disqualified from Special Operations.¹¹

The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the lower court’s injunction against the Navy.¹² The Supreme Court reversed the decisions in part. It ruled that the Navy could consider vaccination status in deciding assignments and deployments, while the temporary prohibition on disciplining or discharging Navy Seals who file a religious exemption remains in place.¹³

During the course of litigation, President Biden ended the COVID vaccine mandate for the military in 2023. However, the sailors argued that the damage was already done.¹⁴

Navy Seals Vindicated in Settlement

The U.S. government settlement reached in a federal courthouse in Fort Worth, Texas allows the Navy sailors to have their records cleaned so that their careers will no longer be impacted by their religious beliefs.¹⁵ The records of all affected Navy sailors will be reviewed and any records showing administrative separation processing or proceedings, formal counseling, and non-judicial punishment actions will be permanently removed within the next nine months.¹⁶

Danielle Runyan, attorney for the sailors said:

Today was a great victory. The judge issued an order on the record approving the settlement of our case. Their records will now be cleared and there is going to be information presented to the promotion board so that no adverse information is considered.¹⁷

Within the next year, the Navy will also review the records of all sailors, who were discharged over their refusal to take the controversial shot, and remove any reference to a discharge due to misconduct, which will allow the service members to be eligible for enlistment.¹⁸
Approximately 4,339 service members, which includes all active service members as of March 2022 who filed a religious exemption to the COVID shots, are included in this settlement.¹⁹

The Navy is also required to post on their website that the Navy:

supports diverse expressive activities, to include religious expression, and recognizes that through inclusion we are a better military and stronger nation for it. [Religious beliefs are] “a pillar of the Navy’s commitment to treating all sailors with dignity and respect.²⁰

The Navy must also advise service members of their rights pertaining to religious accommodations, put together a training presentation for Navy supervisors, and pay the sailors $1.5 million in attorney fees.²¹

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