A former NYU housing manager is suing the university for religious-based discrimination, claiming he was wrongfully terminated after refusing to comply with its COVID-19 vaccination requirements in 2021 and 2022. 

Kenyon Chapman, who served as a Residence Hall Resource Manager at NYU from 2003 to 2022, argued that because of his Christian beliefs, he could not receive the vaccine in good faith, leading the university to dismiss him from his position. In a lawsuit filed on Jan. 22, Chapman claimed that his termination violated civil rights laws and was “done with malice.” The suit is scheduled to go to court in April.

Chapman is alleging that “other employees were granted exceptions” and that it “would not have caused undue hardship” to eliminate his vaccination requirement. He also claimed that he faced regular harassment at NYU for not getting vaccinated.

“NYU sees this lawsuit as baseless and intends to fight it vigorously in court,” university spokesperson Joseph Tirella told WSN. 

Marshall Bellovin, Chapman’s attorney, said in a statement that Chapman is seeking monetary compensation for “loss of income, pension benefits, severe mental anguish and emotional distress and loss of quality of life.” 

In June 2021, the university announced its requirement that all faculty receive the COVID-19 vaccine. The next month, Chapman submitted a request for a religious exemption by filling out a form linked in the announcement. After not receiving a response, Chapman emailed the Office of Equal Opportunity in August and had his exception granted that day. 

“As a Christian, and a believer in Jesus Christ, my personal Savior, I am told to Trust in the Lord with all thine heart,” Chapman wrote in his email, according to the lawsuit. “My body is the Temple of The Holy Spirit and I’m not obliged to take any vaccine that may harm my body.”

Chapman’s religious exception to NYU’s COVID-19 protocol was set to last either one year or until the Food and Drug Administration fully approved a vaccine. When the Pfizer vaccine was given full authorization later in August, just three weeks after the exception was initially granted, university administrators told Chapman he was required to receive the vaccine within the next six weeks. 

As Chapman’s final deadline to receive the vaccine approached, he left the city for several months to address a family emergency. When he returned, he was notified after one day of work of his “unauthorized presence on campus” and placed on unpaid leave. After filing for another religious exemption, administrators reiterated that Chapman’s initial exemption was conditional on the vaccine’s lack of approval and was no longer a viable option. Around five months later, NYU sent him the termination letter. 

“If the institution feels I’m a liability because of my COVID-19 vaccination status, why not just terminate me?” Chapman said in another email to OEO administrators. “I was given a religious exemption that was reneged upon.”

Chapman had worked at NYU for nearly 20 years. In a statement to WSN, his lawyer touted that the law firm recently won another case under the Department of Education that involved a teacher’s religious exemptions. Individuals’ rights to religious exemptions to COVID-19 vaccinations were ratified by a New York judge in 2021.

Contact Graylin Lucas at [email protected].