Judge allows teachers to be rehired with back pay after refusing COVID-19 vaccine.

Victory for Opponents of Vaccine Mandates: ⁣Judge Orders Reinstatement of Fired NYC Department of Education Employees

A ‌New York state judge ruled Wednesday that 10 employees fired by the New York⁣ City Department of⁣ Education for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine have to be reinstated with back pay.

In a win for opponents of vaccine mandates,⁢ State Supreme Court Judge Ralph J. Porzio found (pdf) that the city’s denials of religious exemptions to certain city teachers was unconstitutional, capricious, and arbitrary. In the case, principals, teachers, and other school workers filed a ‍lawsuit sponsored by the anti-mandate Children’s Health Defense against the Department of Education after their attempts to ⁣claim a religious accommodation⁤ for the mandate were denied.

“This Court sees no ⁤rational basis for not allowing unvaccinated classroom⁤ teachers in amongst an admitted population of primarily unvaccinated students,” Judge Porzio wrote. “As such, the decision to summarily deny the classroom teachers amongst the Panel Petitioners based on an undue hardship, without ⁢any further evidence ‍of individualized analysis, is​ arbitrary, capricious, and unreasonable. As such, each classroom teacher amongst the Panel Petitioners ⁢is entitled to a religious exemption from the Vaccine Mandate.”

The judge also ​criticized the city’s assertion that allowing classroom teachers to get a religious exemption would place undue hardship on the city, calling the claim “arbitrary, capricious, and unreasonable.”

In the order, he granted⁢ relief to 10 ‌plaintiffs ⁣who completed the administrative steps to request an exemption. He⁤ denied relief to‌ six plaintiffs because they did not complete the administrative process.

As part of his ruling, Judge Porzio made reference⁤ to Mayor Eric Adams’s lifting of a ⁤vaccine mandate for some private employees in 2022, notably celebrities and athletes. He said the decision was evidence that the ​mandate ⁣for public workers was done on an arbitrary ⁣basis.

New York City ⁣imposed a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for all Department of Education workers that started on Oct. 1, 2021, and⁢ lasted until Feb. 10, 2023. Reports indicated‌ that thousands of workers, teachers, and other ​staffers lost their jobs for not adhering to the mandate.

Other cities also imposed mandates on their workers throughout the pandemic. In late​ 2021, President Joe Biden announced that he would use the federal ​Occupational Safety⁤ and Health Administration to force private companies with‌ 100 or more employees to require the vaccine,⁣ which was struck ⁤down by the U.S. Supreme Court months later. However, mandates were imposed on federal employees and contractors for ⁤years.

An attorney for the New York plaintiffs, Sujata ⁤Gibson, told Children’s Health Defense that they ⁢have “been fighting for this since August of 2021 for⁢ these 10 people specifically. And‌ we won⁤ and we won big for them,” adding, “They were reinstated with back pay,⁢ with no break in service, and⁣ attorneys’ fees.‌ That’s huge.”

“The⁢ judge’s ruling yesterday, while not ⁢everything we wanted,‌ is a precedent-setting victory, and a watershed moment in⁤ the teachers’ fight,” she added, noting that thousands of unvaccinated workers who were also denied a religious exemption could⁢ sue based on the new precedent.

The lawyer, meanwhile, suggested that another‌ class action lawsuit may be filed in the future.