State Supreme Court Judge rules teachers who declined COVID shots must be reinstated with back pay.
Teachers Who Refused COVID Shots Must Be Reinstated with Back Pay, Rules State Supreme Court Judge
Ten New York City teachers who were fired for refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccine have won a major victory. A New York state judge ruled last week that they must be reinstated with back pay.
“This Court sees no rational basis for not allowing unvaccinated classroom teachers in amongst an admitted population of primarily unvaccinated students,” wrote Judge Ralph J. Porzio in his ruling.
“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,” he added.
The case, known as DiCapua v. City of New York, involved a group of educators who sued after their requests for a religious exemption were denied.
This is not the first time Judge Porzio has ruled in favor of employees affected by vaccine mandates. Last year, he ordered 16 Sanitation Department workers to be reinstated because the vaccine mandate was put in place illegally.
Sujata Gibson, the lawyer representing the teachers, called the ruling a major step forward. She stated, “We’ve been fighting for this since August of 2021 for these 10 people specifically. And we won and we won big for them. They were reinstated with back pay, with no break in service, and attorneys’ fees. That’s huge.”
However, the victory has its limitations. Only those who sought a religious accommodation were granted their jobs back. Additionally, a request to file a class action lawsuit was denied. Nevertheless, Gibson remains hopeful, saying, “The court’s ruling in the class certification still leaves the door open to future relief for thousands of teachers negatively affected by the vaccine requirement. We intend to file a motion of reconsideration on a narrower basis.”
Michael Kane, one of the teachers who lost his job for refusing the vaccine, called the ruling “bittersweet.” He believes that justice for only 10 teachers is not enough to address the injustice suffered by NYC workers due to the illegal mandate.
Source: The Western Journal
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