Here are some important law-and-religion news stories from around the web:

• In DeVore v. University of Kentucky Board of Trustees, the Sixth Circuit found that a University did not discriminate against a University of Kentucky employee in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act by denying the employee’s religious accommodation request that would’ve exempted her from a series of University COVID testing policies. The Sixth Circuit reasoned that the plaintiff offered no evidence to show a conflict between her religion and the University’s policies, instead presenting her objection the COVID policies as a reflection of her personal moral code.
• In Esses v. Rosen, a federal district court in New York declined to issue a preliminary injunction prohibiting the defendant from issuing a “seiruv,” which is a form of rabbinical court notice that informs the public that the plaintiff has failed to respond to a summons from the rabbinical court. The court declined to intrude on questions of rabbinical court procedure, which would violate the First Amendment’s Establishment clause.
• Luther Rice College and Seminary has filed a complaint in a federal district court in Georgia, alleging that the State of Georgia has violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments by excluding Luther Rice students from being eligible for a statewide financial student aid program due to the fact that Luther Rice College is a religious institution that the state has classified as a “school of theology.” Luther Rice alleges that the state’s exclusion of the school from its financial aid programs forces the college to forfeit its religious character, beliefs, and exercise or be completely barred from state government financial aid programs, which the college pleads is a violation of the Free Exercise clause and the Equal Protection clause.
• The Archdiocese of Los Angeles has recently agreed to pay $880 million to 1,353 people who alleged they were sexually abused as children by Catholic clergy. To date, the settlement has been regarded as the single highest payout by a diocese.
• In Kumar v. State of Karnataka, an Indian High Court found that a pair of individuals who barged into a mosque and shouted “Jai Sriram” (Glory to Lord Rama) did not violate a section of the Indian Penal Code that prohibits “deliberate and malicious outraging of the religious feelings of any class of citizens.” While the Indian Court conceded that the outburst would outrage the religious feelings of any class of citizens, the High Court ultimately decided that the outburst did not have the “effect on bringing out peace or destruction of public order,” nor did it cause “public mischief or any rift.”