A Religious Exemption From AI?

Welcome to the Napa Legal Podcast, where we discuss religious liberty from the perspective of faith-based nonprofits. In this week's episode, Frank DeVito and Kyle Nazareth discuss the Catholic lawsuit against New York's new physician assisted death mandate, the Ninth Circuit's unanimous ruling for a Kaiser Permanente employee fired over a religious vaccine exemption, and the first known workplace religious accommodation excusing an employee from using AI.In this episode, we discuss:[1:20] Becket sues New York over the Medical Aid in Dying Act on behalf of four orders of religious sisters and the Diocese of Rockville Centre, challenging a law that requires objecting providers to counsel patients on assisted suicide, screen them for eligibility, and refer them out.[18:11] The Ninth Circuit unanimously revives Mimi Weiss's Title VII claims against Kaiser, holding that notice of a religious conflict and sincerity of belief are separate questions, and that employers do not get to decide the second one.[30:24] A Unitarian Universalist software engineer wins a religious exemption from her employer's AI mandate, and Kyle explains why Magnifica Humanitas does not say what the coverage claims it says.Chapter markers0:00 Intro1:20 New York's assisted suicide mandate3:58 Doctors must list the wrong cause of death5:06 Carmelite Sisters v. James7:25 Humanism without Christianity11:12 The federal law arguments13:04 Church autonomy and free exercise16:07 The July 30 consent order16:49 The lesson from Canada18:11 Weiss v. The Permanente Medical Group20:30 Notice or sincerity?22:44 The Ninth Circuit rules for Weiss26:42 How to write an exemption letter30:24 A religious exemption from AI32:02 What the AI encyclical actually saysFor more about Napa Legal and our work, visit our website here: https://www.napalegalinstitute.org/For more of the Napa Legal Podcast, visit our site here: https://www.napalegalinstitute.org/the-napa-legal-podcastThe Napa Legal Podcast, August 4, 2026 #freedomofreligion #religiousliberty