Can Cruise Lines Require Crew and Passengers to Get COVID-19 Vaccines?
With the first people in the world beginning to receive COVID-19 vaccines this month, many cruisers ready to get back onboard see an end in 2021 to the travel bans and lockdowns that have dominated 2020.  for participation.A vaccine requirement from the destination would certainly entice more cruisers to get the vaccine, if they want to get back to normal quicker. Legality of COVID-19 Vaccine Requirement for Passengers  That kind of scenario, though, doesn't protect passengers during their onboard experience, and that's really where cruise lines are going to want to make sure that COVID-19 outbreaks are prevented. Legally, it's likely that a cruise line or private business would be able to impose a vaccine requirement on its customers, said Ronald Schirtzer, a partner at Weinberg, Wheeler, Hudgins, Gunn & Dial. "From a legal standpoint, there is nothing at this point that would suggest that if you wanted to impose a pre-cruise vaccination requirement that either a government will stop you from doing it or that's there is a likelihood for civil liability," he said. Schirtzer noted that in the past, government agencies such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) have allowed employers to impose mandatory vaccination requirements, such as the flu vaccine, as a condition of employment. Exceptions were required, though, pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for employees who can establish that taking the vaccine poses a health risk, as well as for those who have religious objections to vaccination, unless the exception imposes an undue hardship on the employer. Because cruise lines traveling in U.S. waters are subject to ADA public accommodation requirements, Schirtzer said there is a potential for passengers with medical conditions that increase health risks associated with any COVID-19 vaccine to pursue legal claims if they were precluded from traveling due to mandatory vaccination requirements. Government agencies such as the CDC and the EEOC have not fought back against COVID-19 testing or quarantine requirements in the workplace, though, and have generally supported those protective actions. Because of higher mortality rates associated with COVID-19 when compared with the flu, Schirtzer said that government agencies might be more willing to find that granting requested exemptions for individual health or religious reasons could create an undue hardship. "I think it is unlikely there would be any kind of retribution or pushback from the government for denying access because of a lack of vaccine," he said. "People try to argue that you can't make me wear a mask in your store," he said. "The response of the courts is to laugh those people out of court. We're in a pandemic, businesses have the right to maintain the safety of their workers and their customers." If the cruise lines did require vaccination for boarding, they would be most likely be legally obligated to issue refunds to customers who booked their trip before the requirement was in place, Schirtzer said. "Otherwise, cruise line operators would open themselves up to potential class-action lawsuits," he said. Given the number of 2021 cruises that already have been booked and rebooked, those refunds could be financially burdensome to the cruise lines. Schirtzer said that outside of the employment context or religious exemptions granted by individual states, courts have consistently rejected challenges to mandatory vaccination requirements based on religious beliefs. He believes that a vaccination requirement applied to all customers would not be actionable under the U.S. Constitution or federal laws prohibiting religious discrimination in public accommodations