HUGE.
The New York Supreme Court shot down New York City’s COVID vaccine mandate for public workers, reinstated all employees fired for not vaccinating, and ordered backpay.
Mayor Eric Adams fired 1,430 city workers who refused the COVID vaccine in early February.
Sixteen fired employees from the Sanitation Department sued the city later in the month. Adams fired a total of 40 sanitation employees.
In October 2021, former Mayor Bill de Blasio mandated all public employees have the COVID vaccine. The health commissioner extended the mandate to the private sector in December.
When faced with problems of unvaccinated athletes, current Mayor Eric Adams “provided blanket exemptions from the private employers’ vaccine mandate for athletes, performers, and other artists.”
Those who sued claim Adams’ decision “rendered the public employee vaccination mandate arbitrary and capricious or unconstitutional.”
Staten Island Supreme Court Justice Ralph Porzio wrote:
The Court finds that in light of the foregoing, the vaccination mandates for public employees and private employees is arbitrary and capricious. There was nothing demonstrated in the record as to why there was a vaccination mandae issued for only public employees in October 2021. The Court notes that Covid-19 rates were averaging under 1,500 per day in Pctober 2021, significantly lower than today’s average Covid-19 rates. There was nothing demonstrated in the record as to why the private sector mandate was issued months later in December 2021. There was nothing demonstrated in the record as to why exemptions were issued for certain professions in March 2022 under Executive Order No. 62. There was nothing demonstrated in the record as to why employees were kept at full duty during the months-long pendency of their exemption appeals. There was nothing demonstrated in the record as to why a titer was not an acceptable alternative to vaccination, other than a single CDC study entitled “New CDC Study: Vaccination Offers Higher Protection Than Previous Covid-19 Infection” which was issued on August 6, 2021.
In other words, these Democratic leaders, obsessed with power, knew they had no backing or justification for forcing employees to get a shot. None.
Porzio saw right through them, especially Adams, when he made exemptions for the arts. Money, money, money.
Porzio was correct that Adams didn’t provide an example of why he made that exemption, but we all know it had to do with Brooklyn Nets player Kyrie Irving. In March 2022, Adams knew baseball season would start the following month. No Yankees or Mets players? Whatever. So he had to expand it to entertainers.
Capitalism. It’s a sweet thing, isn’t it? That’s not sarcasm. I love capitalism. I’m honest about it, unlike people on the left.
Porzio then pointed out that the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) and the Board of Health also overstepped their boundaries.
What. A. Shock.
The NYC Charter gives DOHMH and the Board of Health “jurisdiction to regulate all matters affecting health in the City of New York.” They can also “add necessary additional provisions to the healthcode to most effectively prevent the spread of communicable disease…” The health code provides the two with additional powers during a public health emergency.
However, a citizen’s employment is not within those powers.
“Though the Board of Health has the power to regulate vaccinations and adopt measures to reduce the spread of infectious diseases per Administration Code 17-109, the Board of Health does not have the authority to unilaterally and indefinitely change the terms of employment for any agency,” wrote Porzio. “Therefore, this Court finds that the DOHMH has acted outside its proper sphere of authority.”
Porzio said then-Health Commissioner David Chokshi ordering and enforcing that vaccination policy on only a portion of the populace for an indefinite period of time is akin to legislating.
“It appears that in issuing this indefinite order, usurping the power of the legislature, the Health Commissioner has acted beyond his authority,” concluded Porzio.
Just like DOHMH and the Board of Health, Porzio found the Health Commissioner “exceeded his scope of authority based upon the separation of powers” since he “cannot enact a term of employment on City employees.”
I found this part interesting. Remember how people got upset because healthcare workers were fired for refusing the vaccine? Well, “healthcare workers have always been required to be vaccinated against infectious diseases.”
However, The City of New York Department of Sanitation has never required employees to have vaccines “against infectious diseases.”
Porzio also shot down the city’s argument that sanitation workers come into contact with unvaccinated people because, well, common sense.
But the best part: “City employees should also have the right to make their own choice regarding their own health.”
Let me fix that for you, Porzio: “City employees, along with every other consenting adult, have the right to make their own choice regarding their own health.”
In his conclusion, Porzio reminded NYC that the vaccine “does not prevent an individual from contracting or transmitting Covid-19.” Plus, the CDC guidelines for quarantine and isolation are the same for everyone regardless of vaccination status.
“President Joe Biden has said that the pandemic is over,” wrote Porzio. “The State of New York ended the Covid-19 state of emergency over a month ago.”
Boom: “If it was about safety and public health, no one would be exempt. It is time for the City of New York to what is right and what is just.”
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