Today, First Liberty filed a federal lawsuit seeking a temporary restraining order on behalf of multiple U.S. Air Force personnel who face discriminatory treatment after seeking legal, religious exemptions to the vaccine mandate.
This lawsuit against the Department of Defense (DoD) and Secretary of the Air Force not only fights on behalf of our Air Force clients, but is also filed as a class action to represent thousands of the Air Force service members who have been denied an accommodation.
Some of our clients include:
- Danielle Runyan, a member of the Air Force Reserve and counsel for First Liberty
- Bryan P. Spence, F-16 Instructor Pilot based in Texas
- Alan Sosebee, Chief of Training for units based in Colorado
- Mitchell B. Pike, F-16 Fighter Pilot based in New Mexico
- Christopher M. Wu, Air Force officer based in Maryland
The sweeping denial of religious requests by the DoD totally disregards the sincerely held religious beliefs of these brave men and women—despite having approved hundreds of medical and administrative exemptions from its vaccine requirement.
A victory in this battle would have a major impact on all of the Air Force personnel whose requests based on their faith have been rejected.
The U.S. Air Force has denied nearly all religious accommodation requests. And similar to our U.S. Navy SEALs case, the Air Force isn’t giving the majority of religious service members the proper consideration required by law.
Now that we are fighting against the DoD on behalf of Navy SEALs and Air Force service members, First Liberty is going to need your ongoing support. This will be a tough legal battle ahead, but we’re optimistic that together, we can win.
