The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit has upheld a lower court’s ruling refusing to block a Boston hospital from applying a COVID-19 vaccine mandate to employees, holding that lost income and benefits are not irreparable harms.

Eight of Mass General Brigham Hospital’s employees sought religious exemptions to the hospital’s policy, which required all employees to receive their first vaccine dose by Oct. 15, 2021, according to the appeals court’s opinion. Once those exemptions were rejected and they were placed on unpaid leave, plaintiffs brought claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as well as the Americans with Disabilities Act, and sought a preliminary injunction.