Navy SEALs, Sailors Who Refused COVID Vaccine Will Have Records Expunged After Legal Settlement
The U.S. Navy has reached a settlement with sailors who filed a lawsuit over the service's COVID-19 vaccine mandate, ending a nearly four-year saga that pitted Navy SEALs and other service members against their commander in chief.
Under an agreement in the case announced Wednesday, Navy sailors who refused the vaccine for religious reasons can now have their records corrected and will be protected against discrimination on promotion boards for the next three years, according to their attorneys.
Promotion boards "must not consider any adverse information related solely to COVID-19 vaccine refusal in cases in which a religious accommodation was requested," according to a release from the First Liberty Institute, a nonprofit legal organization that defends religious liberties, and the law firm Hacker Stephens LLP.
The Navy also agreed to review the personnel records of all plaintiffs to ensure that the service expunged any information on administrative separation, counseling or nonjudicial punishment for failing to comply with the mandate.
