- On Tuesday, October 25th State Supreme Court Justice Ralph Porzio sitting in Staten Island sided with and ruled in a decision on a lawsuit brought forth by New York City sanitation workers fired for not taking the COVID-19 vax.
- Justice Porzio concluded the city’s public health commissioner overstepped his authority and violated the workers’ due process and equal protection rights when he barred them from doing their jobs.
- Mayor Adams announced last month he would lift the COVID-19 vaccination mandate on Nov 1 for private sector employees while keeping it in place for public-sector employees.
- The public-sector mandate has been in effect since October 2021 and was extended to the private sector two months later.
On Tuesday, October 25th State Supreme Court Justice Ralph Porzio sitting in Staten Island sided with and ruled in a decision on a lawsuit brought forth by New York City sanitation workers fired for not taking the COVID-19 vax that they should be reinstated and given back pay because the mandate is unconstitutional.
Justice Porzio concluded the city’s public health commissioner overstepped his authority and violated the workers’ due process and equal protection rights when he barred them from doing their jobs.
Last June, the Department of Sanitation sent out letters to workers offering their jobs back if they got the vaccination.
Porzio also pointed out how hypocritical NYC Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat, was in lifting the vax mandates for some private employees earlier this year in March such as athletes and entertainers as evidence the public worker vax mandate was unreasonable and arbitrary.
This is also a blatant display of the elitist “rules for thee but not for me” approach that has characterized the COVID-19 response by government officials regardless of political party on many occasions.
Quoting Porzio’s ruling, “There is nothing in the record to support the rationality of keeping a vaccination mandate for public employees while vacating the mandate for private sector employees or creating a carveout for certain professions, like artists, athletes and performers.”
He also wrote, “This is clearly an arbitrary and capricious action because we are dealing with identical unvaccinated people being treated differently by the same administrative agency.”
The city’s law department appealed the ruling the same day in an emailed statement that it “strongly disagrees with this ruling as the mandate is firmly grounded in law and is critical to New Yorkers’ public health.”
Mayor Adams announced last month he would lift the COVID-19 vaccination mandate on Nov 1 for private sector employees while keeping it in place for public-sector employees.
The public-sector mandate has been in effect since October 2021 and was extended to the private sector two months later.
New York City remains the biggest place in the U.S. where COVID-19 vaccinations are mandatory as a workplace safety measure.
Despite the judge’s ruling ordering reinstatement and back pay that only applies to a small group of sanitation workers who filed the lawsuit, the city mandate remains in effect for all workers outside of the suit.
