A federal district judge in Fort Worth Monday denied United Airlines employees’ motion for a preliminary injunction enjoining enforcement of the company’s vaccine mandate.

United Airlines employees sued the company over its accommodation policy for medical or religious exemptions. They argued that the company violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by failing to provide reasonable religious accommodations, failing to engaging in an interactive process, and retaliating against plaintiffs for requesting religious exemptions.

While no major religion opposes the COVID-19 vaccine, Title VII merely requires people to have a sincerely-held religious belief against vaccination. The belief does not have to be endorsed by that person’s faith leaders.

United’s vaccination policy accommodates those with medical or religious exemptions by placing them on indefinite, unpaid leave. Plaintiffs argued that such a policy is not a reasonable accommodation. Moreover, they asked the court to enjoin United’s enforcement of the policy because they alleged it would cause irreparable harm to them by affecting their seniority, among other considerations. In the heavily-unionized airline industry, seniority determines many aspects of an employee’s working conditions.

The court found that no irreparable harm would occur if it did not enjoin the vaccine mandate. In order for a federal court to grant a preliminary injunction, the moving party must prove they will suffer irreparable harm if the injunction is not granted. The moving party must also show the likelihood of prevailing at trial, as well as any other public or private interests implicated by the injunction. Because the plaintiffs failed to show irreparable harm, the court did not analyze any public interest, such as public health, implicated by United’s vaccine policy.