On February 9th of this year, Hermione Susana testified before members of the Religious Liberty Commission (RLC) about losing jobs with three employers as they and the New York City government rolled out a series of COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
She told them about how her requests for a religious accommodation as a Catholic were rejected and ignored, and how the loss of her livelihood led to losing her apartment and having to stay with family out of state while fighting to regain employment.
In the brief time she was given to testify, Susana did a tremendous job of detailing the ordeal that not only she but countless other workers across the public and private sectors in New York City endured after being denied religious accommodations to the workplace vaccine mandates that pushed them out of jobs, careers, and homes.
Hermione Susana testified at the fifth hearing of the Religious Liberty Commission in Washington D.C. and answered questions from commissioners on February 9, 2026.
Yesterday, her story was presented to the President as part of the Religious Liberty Commission’s draft report on the state of religious liberty in the United States.
The Commission was created by an executive order in May 2025, and held seven hearings over the following year where members of the public testified about their experiences with religious discrimination, threats to religious liberty, and the protections they would like to see put in place.
President Donald Trump was presented with the RLC’s draft report in the Oval Office on June 26, 2026.
The draft report also includes testimony from a Catholic New York family, the Costines, whose daughter was barred from attending public school after the state repealed religious exemptions to childhood vaccinations in 2019.
The issue of COVID-19 vaccine mandates for adults receives substantial attention in the report through the testimony of Dr. Aaron Kheriaty, who was fired from his position as director of University of California Irvine’s medical ethics program after challenging the university’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate in court, as well as the testimonies of U.S. military service members.
President Donald Trump touched on the RLC’s draft report during his remarks at the Faith & Freedom Coalition’s 2026 Policy Conference on June 26, 2026.
The draft report includes 12 key recommendations from the RLC, along with numerous detailed recommendations related to the themes of 13 of its chapters.
Some of the recommendations relate directly to Hermione Susana’s testimony:
Support litigation upholding religious freedom in employment. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission should support strategic litigation seeking to protect religious freedom rights in employment, including the rights of employees to:
- Participate in an interactive religious accommodation process with employers, resulting in genuine accommodation;
- Be free from retaliation for requesting a religious accommodation or engaging in private religious speech while off-duty.
Provide “Know Your Rights” posters. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission should issue a “Know Your Rights” poster that employers may post in employee gathering areas.
Further recommendations related to vaccine mandates include:
Investigate and litigate religious freedom violations. The Department of Health and Human Services’ and Department of Justice’s Offices of Civil Rights, along with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission should open civil rights investigations into—or file strategic litigation against—federally funded educational, medical, and governmental entities that may have violated religious freedom rights by denying religious exemptions to vaccine mandates.
Support litigation upholding religious freedom in relation to vaccines. The Department of Justice should support strategic litigation seeking to protect religious freedom rights in relation to vaccines, particularly the rights of school children to receive religious exemptions from vaccine mandates.
Support legislation upholding religious freedom in relation to vaccines. The Administration should advocate for the passage of federal legislation requiring educational institutions to grant students religious exemptions from vaccination requirements as a condition of receiving federal support.
Issue guidance on religious freedom in relation to vaccines. The Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission should issue guidance explaining the scope of the rights of people of faith to receive religious accommodations to vaccine mandates in schools, employment, and healthcare settings.
Send official letters urging respect for religious freedom in relation to vaccines. The Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services should send official letters to federally funded educational, medical, and governmental entities that deny religious exemptions to vaccine mandates while allowing exemptions for non-religious reasons, urging them to protect parental rights and religious freedom by allowing religious exemptions.
Prioritize approval of ethically acceptable alternative vaccines. The Food and Drug Administration should prioritize approving vaccines that offer an ethically acceptable alternative to vaccines that frequently raise religious objections, such as those developed through the use of cell lines derived from aborted fetuses.
You can read the full 224-page draft report on the U.S. Department of Justice website, and a two-page summary is also available. The draft will be open to comments until July 12, and a virtual public meeting will be held after that to review the draft and comments that have been submitted before the report is finalized.
Many New Yorkers sent comments to the RLC during the past year. They are part of the public record and are available in the Public Comments section of the Religious Liberty Commission Resources website page.
If you would like to submit your own comments before July 12, you can find detailed instructions on how to do so at the top of the same page.
Hermione Susana talked with me in 2024 on the New York Mandate Podcast:
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.