by WorldTribune Staff, October 14, 2026 Non-AI Real World News
A New Jersey court recently ruled that Essex County engaged in religious discrimination after testimony revealed the county denied all Covid injection exemption requests from Christian employees while approving all requests made by Muslim employees.
Theodore “Teddy” DeBlasio, a former groundskeeper for the county filed a lawsuit claiming religious discrimination after his request for an accommodation from the county’s mandatory Covid shot policy was denied.
A federal jury found in favor of DeBlasio.
According to DeBlasio’s legal counsel from the Coyle Law Group, testimony at the trial showed that 12 Christian employees applied for religious exemptions and all 12 were denied, while two Muslim employees applied and both were approved.
A jury awarded DeBlasio more than $670,000 after finding the county discriminated against him because of his Christian faith when it rejected his request for a religious exemption from the mandated Covid shot and fired him.
“The unanimous verdict, reached in under four hours, is believed to be the first of its kind in New Jersey for a Covid-era religious exemption employment case,” BrokenTruth.TV reported.
“DeBlasio worked outdoors maintaining the grounds at the Essex County Hospital Center, a county-run psychiatric facility. When state and county policies required vaccination, with religious and medical exemptions available, he submitted a request rooted in his Christian beliefs,” the report said.
“The county denied it. Discovery showed a clear pattern: every Christian exemption request was rejected, while every Muslim request was approved. Among those approved were a nurse and a hospital attendant who worked indoors with patients. Those employees were allowed to keep working with masking and testing—the same measures used across the facility throughout the pandemic. DeBlasio, whose job kept him largely outside the building, was not.”
Attorney John D. Coyle, who represented DeBlasio, told a recent episode of the Freedom Counsel podcast with host John Davidson and co-host Rachel Rodriguez that the jury saw the case was straightforward. It was not about whether the Covid shots could be mandated or whether they worked. It was about whether the county applied the same rules to everyone. “If you have one set of rules for people and another one depending upon what religion you’re in, that’s discrimination,” he said.
“The county’s explanations shifted over time,” the report said. “Officials claimed unvaccinated workers could not be safely accommodated, even though Muslim employees in higher-contact roles were accommodated. They later asserted that Christians had failed to provide letters from clergy, though that requirement was not in the written policy, and at least one Catholic employee who did submit a pastor’s letter was still denied. One Muslim employee’s approved request included photocopied material from another applicant’s form. County staff evaluating the requests did not review the scriptural citations DeBlasio provided and did not bring a Bible to the meetings where they assessed the sincerity of applicants’ beliefs. DeBlasio has worn a crown-of-thorns tattoo on his wrist for roughly thirty years as a personal reminder of his faith.”
250 Years of Freedom Is At Risk
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