The settlement marks the end of a legal battle over pandemic-era policies. It came after a federal appeals court found that the university's Anschutz campus in particular had violated the U.S. Constitution with its COVID-19 vaccine policy.

The policy had allowed members of certain religions to be exempted from the vaccine policy, but not others. It was "hostile toward and discriminatory against certain religions," a federal appeals court wrote last year in a blistering 55-page ruling on the case.

Starting in April 2021, the university system set a requirement that employees and students get one of the new COVID-19 vaccines. Each campus was permitted to set its own specific requirements.

Anschutz — which is the university's medical campus — introduced a policy that summer. It would allow religious exemptions — but only for those people who could cite the "official doctrine" of an "organized religion" in which "teachings are opposed to all immunizations," according to a court ruling.

Ultimately, the policy's attempt to distinguish between different religious beliefs is what doomed it.

The CU Anschutz administration stated that Christian Scientists and Jehovah's Witnesses would qualify for the exemption, but it rejected applications from other religions.

Meanwhile, CU Anschutz stated that Roman Catholics would not be exempted, since it was "morally acceptable" for them to be vaccinated. The school also rejected applications from groups including Buddhists, Evangelical Christians, nondenominational Protestants and members of the Eastern Orthodox Church, not to mention people who didn't state a particular affiliation.

It's unclear why the school said that Christian Scientists and Jehovah's Witnesses would qualify for the exemption when others didn't. Both faiths describe vaccination as a personal choice, even if most Christian Scientists "normally rely on prayer for healing," per the religion's website.

All the plaintiffs in the case had their requests denied. At least three clinical practitioners were fired, while another was placed indefinitely on unpaid leave. 

Non-clinical employees were banned from campus, and one had her pay cut by 10 percent. Others were denied exemptions or required to work remotely. 

The original plaintiffs — a Catholic doctor and a Buddhist medical student — sued in fall 2021, asking for a preliminary injunction.