An Illinois community college did not violate the religious rights of a student excluded from its paramedic program for refusing to be vaccinated, an appeals panel has ruled.
The Appellate Court of Illinois refused to reinstate a religious freedom, equal protection and due process of law case by Nicholas George, who cited religious reasons for requesting an exemption from the vaccination requirement of a privately owned hospital that worked with Kankakee Community College.
In 2013, the hospital notified him that he could not continue without the vaccinations, and the college placed him on academic warning, the decision said. The college also refused to let him enroll in additional classes or to certify that he had successfully completed any first-semester classes.
A lower court dismissed his suit against the college and hospital.
Upholding that decision, the Appellate Court rejected assertions that George’s religious rights under the federal and Illinois constitutions were violated. It also said government could enforce requirements that restrict religious freedom when necessary to promote public safety.
“Since George may come in direct contract with patients suffering from measles, mumps or rubella and could unknowingly become a carrier of those conditions, we conclude that the vaccination policy is consistent with the health and safety interests of this state,” Judge Vicki Wright wrote for the court.
