A New York state judge ruled Wednesday that 10 employees fired by the New York City Department of Education for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine have to be reinstated with back pay.
In a win for opponents of vaccine mandates, State Supreme Court Judge Ralph J. Porzio found (pdf) that the city’s denials of religious exemptions to certain city teachers was unconstitutional, capricious, and arbitrary. In the case, principals, teachers, and other school workers filed a lawsuit sponsored by the anti-mandate Children’s Health Defense against the Department of Education after their attempts to claim a religious accommodation for the mandate were denied.
