The New York Supreme Court overruled the Big Apple's COVID-19 vaccine mandate on Monday, ordering the reinstatement of city employees who'd been fired for not getting the shot. Backpay was also ordered.
In a 13-page decision, Staten Island Judge Ralph J. Porzio said that the city's decision to fire roughly 1,400 unvaccinated workers rather than place them on administrative leave proves it was never about stopping viral spread.
"The vaccination mandate for city employees was not just about safety and public health; it was about compliance," Porzio stated. "If it was about safety and public health, the health commissioner would have issued citywide mandates for vaccination for all residents.
"In a city with a nearly 80% vaccination rate, we shouldn't be penalizing the people who showed up to work, at great risk to themselves and their families, while we were locked down."
The Staten Island court also determined that former New York City Health Commissioner David Chokshi had no authority to create new conditions of employment, prohibit employees from working, or terminate employees.
The ruling comes roughly one year after Chokshi ordered all city employees to vaccinate against the virus; he issued a similar edict for private-sector employees in December 2021. Later, New York City Mayor Eric Adams created exemptions for athletes, musicians, and other performers.
Porzio deemed both orders — critics called them devastating to firefighting and police departments — "arbitrary and capricious." He also found Chokshi's proclamations violated the New York state constitution.
"Yesterday marked a historic victory for sanitation workers, all the brave NYC employees who serve the public and our representative democracy," attorney Chad LaVeglia told The Daily Signal.
"The court struck down NYC's draconian, arbitrary vaccine mandate on multiple constitutional and legal grounds. The thousands of city employees who were ignored now have a voice. And as the court recognized, they deserve better."
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