> NYC Vaccine Mandate Blocked by Judge in Blow to Bill de Blasio -- Libs are still thinking this is legalPrevious | First | 1 | Last | Next
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NYC Vaccine Mandate Blocked by Judge in Blow to Bill de Blasio -- Libs are still thinking this is legal
https://www.newsweek.com/nyc-vaccine-ma … rk-1657207
Mayor Bill de Blasio's COVID-19 vaccine mandate for New York City employees, including the NYPD, has been blocked by a Manhattan court.
On Tuesday, Judge Frank P. Nervo in the Supreme Court of New York gave notice that the mandate was suspended, pending a hearing scheduled for December 14.
Patricia Finn, an attorney who describes herself on Twitter as "The Good Health Lawyer New Yotk (sic)," launched the legal challenge against the mayor's mandate. She regularly espouses anti-vaccination views on her social media accounts.
In one Facebook post, Finn wrote: "Please DO NOT support lockdowns for the unvaccinated. It garners support for lockdowns and punishment for whoever these bureaucrats deem 'dangerous'."
On October 20, de Blasio imposed the order that required all city employees to have at least their first shot by October 29, or face being suspended without pay. It affected roughly 160,000 employees and was met with much opposition. Police and firefighter union leaders warned that the rule would lead to staff shortages.
New York City has administered more than 12.5 million vaccination doses so far, with 89 percent of adults having had at least one dose. More than 125,000 children aged 5-11 have also had at least one dose. At the height of the pandemic, the city's 7-day daily average of COVID deaths hit 829 but, on Tuesday, that figure was down to 11 deaths.
On November 1, de Blasio said the city workers mandate was working and vaccination rates had risen to 85 percent for the NYPD, 88 per cent for emergency medical services, 83 percent for the sanitation department and 77 per cent for firefighters.
On Monday, de Blasio announced a vaccine mandate for private sector workers, which was expected to take effect on December 27 and apply to roughly 184,000 businesses, according to a statement from the City of New York.
The mayor also announced major expansions to its "Key to NYC" program, which involves getting as many residents vaccinated as possible so the city can return to normal operations. As part of the program, New Yorkers 18 or older are required to show identification and proof of vaccination to partake in indoor activities.
The expansion also obliges children aged 5-11 to provide proof of vaccination to enter indoor dining, fitness, entertainment and performance venues. Those changes are due to come into effect on December 14.
This age group will also be required to get vaccinated to participate in "high-risk extracurricular activities," including sports, orchestra and dance.
From December 27, New Yorkers aged 12 and older will be required to show proof of two vaccine doses, instead of one, except for those who have received the Johnson & Johnson single-shot vaccine.
In a statement on Monday, de Blasio said: "New York City will not give a single inch in the fight against COVID-19. Vaccination is the way out of this pandemic, and these are bold, first-in-the-nation measures to encourage New Yorkers to keep themselves and their communities safe.
"From workplace mandates, to $100 incentives, to mobile and at-home vaccination offerings, no place in the nation has done more to end the COVID era. And if you have not taken this step yet: there's no better day than today to stand up for your city."
A CDC-issued vaccination card will be accepted as proof of vaccine, as well as the New York state Excelsior Pass, the Clear Health Pass and the NYC COVID Safe App.
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Re: NYC Vaccine Mandate Blocked by Judge in Blow to Bill de Blasio -- Libs are still thinking this is legal
Judge orders NYPD union members fired over vax mandate reinstated [Questionable Source (Bagz)]
In a major victory for members of the NYPD’s largest police union, a judge ruled Friday cops who were fired for not getting vaccinated against the coronavirus have to be reinstated.
In the stunning decision, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Lyle Frank wrote that the city’s vaccine mandate on the Police Benevolent Association was invalid “to the extent it has been used to impose a new condition of employment” on the union.
The mandate was also invalid because it issued enforcement beyond “monetary sanctions” prescribed in the law, Frank wrote — ordering that all PBA members put on leave or canned be reinstated.
It would be a “gross overstatement” of the city’s Department of Mental Health and Hygiene to say it could enforce the vaccine mandate through termination, unpaid leave or suspension, Frank said.
“To be unequivocally clear, this Court does not deny that at the time it was issued the vaccine mandate was appropriate and lawful,” the ruling stated. But the city hadn’t “established a legal basis or lawful authority for the DOH to exclude employees from the workplace and impose any other adverse employment action as an appropriate enforcement mechanism of the vaccine mandate.”
Any new condition of employment would have to be included in a collective bargaining agreement between a labor union and the city, the judge wrote.
“This decision confirms what we have said from the start: the vaccine mandate was an improper infringement on our members’ right to make personal medical decisions in consultation with their own health care professionals,” PBA President Pat Lynch said in a statement.
“We will continue to fight to protect those rights.”
The ruling is the second big blow against the Big Apple’s COVID-19 measures in a week, after a Manhattan judge ruled last week an NYPD cop who sued over the mandate couldn’t be fired for refusing to get jabbed.
Brooklyn cop Alexander Deletto, 43, should be allowed to keep his job after the city offered no explanation why it rejected his request for a religious exemption.
The two rulings could also set precedents for other unions in various city departments, to the extent the mandate isn’t codified in their collectively bargained labor deals.
in the wake of the ruling on the PBA, the two FDNY unions said Friday they’d look to get back on the job their members who refused to get jabbed.
“It was only a matter of time before a common sense Judge concluded that the COVID-19 vaccination mandate was never a condition of employment,” said FDNY Uniformed Firefighters Association President Andrew Ansbro and FDNY Uniformed Fire Officers Association President Lt. James McCarthy.
“The Uniformed Firefighters Association and Uniformed Fire Officers Association will send a letter to the Fire Commissioner demanding the reinstatement and remuneration of all FDNY members terminated or placed on leave without pay due to the vaccine mandate.”
The city law department said it would “immediately” appeal the ruling.
“It is at odds with every other court decision upholding the mandate as a condition of employment,” a Law Department spokesperson told The Post.
An appeal would immediately freeze the judge’s ruling. It wasn’t immediately clear how many officers fired or on leave would be affected if the judge’s ruling were to hold; an NYPD spokesperson referred comment on specifics to the city Law Department.
The mandate, enacted in October 2021 under former Mayor Bill de Blasio, was controversial out of the gate. Mayor Eric Adams ruffled union members in the spring when he rolled back the mandate so that unvaccinated athletes and performers like the Brooklyn Nets’ Kyrie Irving could play in New York.
That led to the PBA to amend its complaint, saying the carve out undermined the basis for the mandate.
pfhildo will start another deletion and ban rampage over this. How many hundreds moar will get banned? 
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