All New York City employees who were fired for not having the required vaccinations must be reinstated with back pay, according to an order by the state’s Supreme Court.
The court determined on Monday that receiving a vaccination does not shield a person from catching or spreading COVID-19. Earlier this year, Mayor of New York City Eric Adams asserted that his administration would not rehire workers who had been sacked due to their vaccination status.
After the city imposed a vaccine mandate under previous Mayor Bill de Blasio, NYC fired about 1,700 employees for being unvaccinated earlier this year.
Police officers and firefighters made up a large portion of those fired.
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— Marina Medvin 🇺🇸 (@MarinaMedvin) October 25, 2022
NY State Supreme Court reinstates all fired unvaccinated employees, orders backpay, says the state violated rights, acted arbitrary & capricious, notes:“Being vaccinated does not prevent an individual from contracting or transmitting Covid-19.”https://t.co/nvOsWfa56S pic.twitter.com/WhH4wje2bQ
Earlier this year, the presidents of the FDNY-Uniformed Firefighters Association and the FDNY-Uniformed Fire Officers Association denounced Mayor Adams for allowing an exception to the vaccine requirement for athletes and entertainers while continuing to fire firefighters due to their status. The two urged the city to extend the exception to all residents of New York.
“We’re here to say that we support the revocation of the vaccine mandate that the mayor announced on Thursday. We think that it should be extended as well. We support the revocation of the mandate for the athletes and performers that work in New York City. We think that the people that work for New York City should also have the mandate relocated for them.”
According to Ansbro, if the vaccine requirement is going to be lifted for certain city residents, it must also be lifted for all city residents. Following science will lead you to the conclusion that there is no immediate threat, and that it is not in the city’s best interests to lay off hundreds of firefighters, police officers, and other emergency personnel.