- Welcome back to "Newswatch."

People who don't want to get

the COVID vaccine mandatedby President Biden

are looking to religiousliberty groups for help.

I spoke with Roger Gannam,

assistant vice president oflegal affairs at Liberty Counsel

about what folks needto know when it comes

to their freedom of religionand vaccine exemptions.

I understand your organization

is receiving sometimeshundreds of calls a day

with questions about this issue.

What are you hearing andwhat are people asking?

- That's right.

Sometimes as many as 500 calls a day,

mainly from employees who arebeing told by their employers

that they must get oneof the COVID vaccines

or lose their job.

And as you can imagine,

that puts a lot of peopleunder a lot of stress

and a lot of anxiety about the future.

And so, we're trying tohelp as many as we can

by filing either a strategic lawsuit

or sending out a demandletter to a large employer

when they're giving theiremployees an especially hard time

about receiving a religious exemption

from one of these shot mandates,

which, for most employees,the law requires

that a religious exemption be granted.

- What is your top advice to all those

who don't want the vaccine

and desire to claim a religious exemption?

- Well, if it's from anemployer, it's important

that the employee followtheir employer's process

for requesting an exemption,and then to stick with it.

Many employers are throwing up obstacles

or asking invasive questions,

trying to discourage someemployees or a number of employees

from even asking fora religious exemption.

But our advice is to stick with it

and supply the employerwhat the employer asks for

because if the exemption is denied,

the employee needs to be able to show

that the employee did whatthe employer asked of them

and still didn't receive the exemption.

And then after that, if theexemption is denied wrongfully,

the employee should immediatelyseek to file a claim

with the Equal EmploymentOpportunity Commission.

That can be done online,usually through the EEOC website

or through the employee's state agency

that handles EEOC claims.

But it's important tostay with the process

because, otherwise, theemployee may not have a remedy

under federal or state law ifthe exemption is not granted.

- Roger, are there other legal ways

that people can avoid thevaccine and keep their jobs?

- Well, if the employer is the government,

then, in addition towhat we call Title VII

or employment discrimination claims,

when the government's the employer

or the government'srequiring a shot mandate,

the First Amendment,the free exercise clause

of the First Amendment givesadditional rights to employees

or to citizens if youhappen to live in a place

that has shot mandates.

And sometimes you can call Liberty Counsel

and we can assist with perhapschallenging that mandate

if the government is involved.

But for most people facing amandate, it's their employer

and their remedy is goingto be through the EEOC.

They can also go toLiberty Counsel's website,

LC.org/exempt, and finda number of resources

that we've put together to help employees

through that process.

- Let's talk big picture now.

What is your greatestconcern with this mandate

and then going forward as a nation

with personal and religious freedoms?

- Well, the greatest concern,the big picture concern

is that the government has no business

mandating any kind of shots or vaccination

beyond people's willingness to take it.

And so sometimeschallenging these mandates

on religious grounds areone of the few avenues

that we have to push backagainst this kind of overreach.

And so we hope that we'resuccessful in pushing back

by representing peoplewith religious objections,

and then it can serve as a check

on government power going forward

because these mandates,whether it's the government

or even if it's anemployer, are interfering

with what we're made to do.

We're made to work.

We're made to be productive.

And when that's taken away from us

because we won't receive an injection

that we don't want toreceive, that's just wrong,

and we hope that our efforts

will help to push back against that.

- In the past, laws like theHealth Insurance Portability

and Accountability Act, or HIPAA,

have been in place toprotect a person's privacy

when it comes to health issues.

That's also a big concernfor many Americans.

Do you believe thatprivacy and health matters

has taken a hit duringthe pandemic, and if so,

what do you think needs tohappen to restore that privacy?

- That's a great question.

It's subtle, but what we're seeing

is, in cases where areligious exemption is granted

to someone from a vaccination requirement,

that employee might have to wear a mask,

or in some cases we'veseen, they're being asked

to wear a different coloredidentification badge,

something to set themapart from their coworkers.

And that is sharingnecessarily medical information

that should be kept private.

And so employees should push back

against these kinds of requirements

and not allow themselves to be bullied

or separated from therest of their coworkers

as a result of havinga legitimate objection

to taking one of these vaccines.