Judge Rules NYC Must Reinstate 10 Teachers After Refusing Coronavirus Vaccine

Ten employees terminated by officials with the New York City Department of Education for refusing to take the Chinese coronavirus vaccine must be reinstated, a New York judge said Wednesday, adding they must also be given their backpay.

State Supreme Court Judge Ralph J. Porzio slammed the city’s denials of religious accommodation to certain workers, Fox News reported Friday.

“The case, DiCapua v. City of New York, concerned school principals, teachers and other educators who sued after city officials rejected their claims for a religious exemption to the vaccine mandate,” the outlet continued:

“This Court sees no rational basis for not allowing unvaccinated classroom teachers in amongst an admitted population of primarily unvaccinated students,” Porzio wrote in a 22-page opinion. “As such, the decision to summarily deny the classroom teachers amongst the Panel Petitioners based on an undue hardship, without any further evidence of individualized analysis, is arbitrary, capricious, and unreasonable. As such, each classroom teacher amongst the Panel Petitioners is entitled to a religious exemption from the Vaccine Mandate.”

In August 2021, city officials began requiring teachers and other workers to be vaccinated for the coronavirus, with then Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) making the announcement, according to Breitbart News.

The mayor had already forced the city’s indoor restaurants and gyms to discriminate against those who chose not to take the vaccine by denying those individuals service at their locations.

In December 2021, Catholic schools in New York City were also targeted as government officials ordered a vaccine mandate for those working in religious and private schools.

The Breitbart News article added that “Jewish and Catholic leaders voiced concern over the mandate, arguing it infringes on their right to a religious exemption.”

Per the Fox News report, a New York teacher named Michael Kane who lost his job once he refused the vaccine said the ruling was a good thing, but “justice for only 10 of us doesn’t even scratch the surface of the injustice suffered by NYC workers as a result of this illegal mandate.”

It is important to note that of the nearly 20,000 migrant children who will enter New York City’s public schools this week, none of them will be required to show proof of their vaccinations, but the children of New York residents will be required to do so, Breitbart News reported August 31.