Last week, 16 DSNY Workers who had been wrongfully terminated for not being vaccinated won their lawsuit against NYC. The NY Supreme Court judged ruled that the vaccinate mandate imposed on them–and all workers–was Unconstitutional, Arbitrary and Capricious. The Judge wrote that the Workers should go back to their jobs and were entitled to back-pay starting from the date of termination.
From Judge Ralph Porizo’s Ruling on the case:
“Being vaccinated does not prevent an individual from contracting or transmitting covid-19. As of the Day of this Decision, CDC guidelines requiring quarantine and isolation are the same for vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals. The Petitioners should not have been terminated for choosing not to protect themselves.”
“This is not a commentary on the effect of vaccination, but on how we are treating our first responders, the ones who worked day-to-day during the height of the pandemic. They worked without protective gear. They were infected with Covid-19, creating natural immunity. They continued working full duty while their exemptions were pending. They were terminated and are willing to come back and work for the city that cast them aside.”
“The vaccination mandate for City employees was not just about safety and public health; it was about compliance. If it was about safety and public health, the workers would have been placed on leave the moment the order was issued….If it was about safety and public health, no one would have been exempt.” (In March, Mayor Adams exempted celebrity athletes and performers from the vaccine mandate)
New York City instantly appealed the ruling, so the Workers are still jobless and in limbo.
When the Workers’ attorney, Chad Laveglia, was asked about the appeal, he replied, “It’s unconstitutional and it’s arbitrary and capricious, not just for sanitation workers but for everyone. The city’s appeal is futile, they’re wasting taxpayer money on a policy that is on its face unequal. Last time I checked, equality was a big deal.“
Not in “liberal” NYC, where questions by the people about the harms of medical mandates are met with derision and annoyance by their political betters, like Senator Liu:
The interviewer points out the thousands of teachers have lost their jobs, and that the vaccines do not stop infections or viral transmissions. These are stone-cold FACTS.
In the face of these facts, Senator Liu simply commands the interviewer to “just get vaccinated. Get vaccinated and boosted.” He doesn’t want to hear that the vaccine doesn’t stop infections, he just issues an authoritarian order, based on what government agencies say to do. The CDC said to do it, so DO IT, peasant! There is no logical reasoning or defense of his position. Liu just COMMANDS to interviewer to vaccinate and shuts down the conversation.
How much do you want to bet a lot of “liberals” in NYC are right on board with Senator Liu’s approach? We have lived through a literal inversion of the old liberal adage, “Question Authority.” And here we are.
Distressed Liberal 
I doubt the courts can fix what is broken when it comes to the mandates. Going back to work for unvaccinated will not be easy. The people behind the mandates will fight to make their lives miserable and the atmosphere at work could be toxic. The true believers will hurl abuse and people who did knuckle under could be resentful. I have a friend that worked at a children’s hospital. She struggled for years to control a serious thyroid condition so she did not want to chance upsetting her delicate health balance by taking the vaccine. The people she worked with were aware of her health condition and did not care. They treated her like a leper. She quit before the mandates because of the hostile work environment. I doubt she would ever go back and work with those people again.
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