In a Sept. 23 decision, New York State Supreme Court Justice Lyle Frank sided with the Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York (PBA). The PBA, whose members belong to the New York City Police Department (NYPD), is the largest law enforcement union in the Big Apple.
Frank declared NYC's COVID-19 vaccine mandate as "invalid to the extent it has been used to impose a new condition of employment to current PBA members."
He added: "Members of the PBA that were caused to be wrongfully terminated and/or put on leave without pay, as a result of non-compliance with the unlawful new condition of employment discussed above, are directed to be reinstated to the status they were as of the date of the wrongful action."
According to the magistrate, the COVID-19 vaccine mandate as applied to the police union was invalid as NYC authorities did not collectively bargain with PBA members.
Despite this, Frank stated that he did not find the vaccine mandate illegal overall. "This court does not deny that at the time it was issued, the vaccine mandate was appropriate and lawful."
"The court, however, does not see, nor have respondents established, a legal basis or lawful authority … to exclude employees from the workplace and impose any other adverse employment action as an appropriate enforcement mechanism of the vaccine mandate."
According to a CBS report, NYC filed an immediate notice of appeal following the Sept. 23 decision. This meant that the justice's ruling is frozen and cannot be enforced until the appeal is heard.
A spokesperson for the NYC Law Department, which is in charge of the Big Apple's legal affairs, remarked that Frank's ruling "is at odds with every other court decision upholding the mandate as a condition of employment."
PBA lauds ruling as a victory for health freedom
The police union led by Patrick J. Lynch had argued that the COVID-19 vaccine mandate violated the city's charter and administrative code. It also accused the city's health commissioner of "exceeding their authority when ordering the mandate." The PBA moreover claimed that the mandate, which "lacks a rational basis," also violated "administrative rule-making requirements." (Related: NYC police union threatens to sue if city requires cops to get vaccinated.)
Frank did not entirely favor the PBA. He rejected the union's argument that the COVID-19 vaccine mandate contravened rule-making requirements.
Still, Lynch welcomed the ruling in a statement, saying that it "confirmed what [the PBA has] said from the start."
"The vaccine mandate was an improper infringement of our members' right to make personal medical decisions in consultation with their own medical health professionals," he wrote. "We will continue to fight to protect those rights."
The Sept. 23 ruling by Frank served as a victory for the PBA, amid the Big Apple firing many of its employees who refused to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
According to figures released by NYC Mayor Eric Adams in July 2022, 1,750 city employees had been terminated since October 2021 for noncompliance with the vaccine mandate. Just days before Frank's decision, the number of unvaccinated city employees laid off for refusing the shot climbed to 1,950.
The biggest batch of terminations in NYC came in February 2022, with more than 1,400 employees terminated for refusing the COVID-19 shot. Over 900 of these were employees in the city's public schools. Most of the 1,400 employees were already on unpaid leave since November 2021.
Head over to MedicalTyranny.com for more stories about NYC's COVID-19 vaccine mandate for city employees.
Watch Sgt. Mike Cherven, president of the State Police Association of Massachusetts, warn about the consequences of firing unvaccinated police officers below.
This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com.
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