06/05/14 VALENT VS. BOARD OF
REVIEW, DEPARTMENT OF
LABOR AND HACKETTSTOWN
COMMUNITY HOSPITAL
A-4980-11T2
The Board of Review denied appellant's application for
unemployment compensation benefits finding she engaged in simple
"misconduct connected to work" under N.J.S.A. 43:21-5(b). We reverse
because the employer did not prove appellant committed misconduct by refusing
to submit to a flu vaccination directive that exempted employees who objected
based on documented medical or religious reasons. Appellant declined to be
vaccinated for secular reasons of personal choice.
The Board's decision to rely on appellant's termination as a legal basis for
denying her application for unemployment
benefits under N.J.S.A. 43:21-5(b)
unconstitutionally violated appellant's
freedom of expression by improperly
endorsing the employer's religion- based exemption to the flu vaccination
policy and rejecting the secular choice proffered by appellant.
