The New York Supreme Court has ruled that a vaccine mandate requiring all city employees to be vaccinated be overruled, and that those fired under this order be reinstated with back pay.
In October 2021, David Chockshi, health commissioner of the City of New York, implemented an order that required all city employees to present proof of vaccination against Covid-19 (Coronavirus). This was then extended to the private sector in December 2021, though exemptions to this private mandate were put in place in March 2022.
The case concerned Department of Sanitation employees who were fired in February 2022 for failure to comply. All petitioners claimed they could prove with lab documentation that they had immunity due to previous infections, and argued that due to the private exemptions, the public mandate was arbitrary, capricious and unconstitutional.
The case argued that, in creating exemptions for private sector employees and not the public sector, a different decision was made for similarly situated people based on identical facts.
The New York City vaccine mandate will be overturned as of 1 November, with private employers encouraged to put their own policies in place from that point.
Effective from 25 October, the claimants were reinstated to their full employment status, and entitled to back pay to the amount of their salary from the date of termination.
Supreme Court Judge Ralph Porzio stated in his judgement: "The [mandate] violated the Petitioners' equal protection rights as the mandate is arbitrary and capricious. The City employees were treated entirely differently from private sector employees, and both City employees and private sector employees were treated entirely differently from athletes, artists and performers.
"All unvaccinated people, living or working in the City of New York, are similarly situated. Granting exemptions for certain classes and selectively lifting of vaccination orders, while maintaining others, is simply the definition of disparate treatment. Furthermore, selective enforcement of these orders is also disparate treatment."
The New York City mayor's office was contacted for comment prior to publication.
