California Christian church and school successfully challenge COVID citations

A California state department has withdrawn citations carrying thousands of dollars in penalties against a Christian church and school, rescinding its accusations that the two institutions had violated COVID restrictions in 2020 and 2021.

The case began after the California Division of Occupational Safety & Health (Cal/OSHA) obtained a search warrant to inspect Calvary Christian Academy, a private school affiliated with Calvary Chapel of San Jose. The warrant followed a report of noncompliance with masking regulations, according to a press release from Advocates for Faith & Freedom, the legal nonprofit representing the two institutions.

Advocates for Faith & Freedom had stated in a previous release that the search warrant application did not include “the identity or role of the reporting person or any of the claims before attempting to inspect the premises” and only stated that “an Academy employee, who greeted the Cal/OSHA inspectors outside and in the open air, was not wearing a face covering.”

“Cal/OSHA failed to inform the judge that face coverings were not required outdoors at the time, nor did it provide evidence that the Academy employee was required to wear a face covering indoors, which at the time there were numerous exceptions,” Advocates for Faith & Freedom stated.

As a result of the inspection, Cal/OSHA issued 15 citations that carried $67,330 in penalties. After the church and school challenged the warrant and showed that the department did not “follow due-process, properly verify allegations, or respect constitutional protections,” according to the release, Cal/OSHA withdrew its citations.

“This is a complete victory, not only for Calvary Christian Academy, but for every church and Christian school in California,” Joel Oster, Advocates for Faith & Freedom’s vice president and chief of trial litigation, stated in the release. “The State tried to use OSHA as a weapon to intimidate a religious institution. They failed. And they were forced to walk away from their own claims.”

Attorney Nicolai Cocis stated that the decision “underscores the importance of due process and the protection of religious freedoms against unwarranted governmental overreach.”