On Friday, a judge ruled that the COVID-19 jab mandate for police officers is invalid.
PBA (Police Benevolent Association) members fired and/or put on leave without pay for refusing to take the experimental COVID-19 shot must be reinstated.
In 2021, New York City’s largest police union filed a suit in state court in Staten Island against former Mayor Bill de Blasio to halt his administration’s COVID-19 jab mandate for city employees.
PBA of the City of New York Police Department argued that the mandate was “far broader and more coercive” than similar measures taken by the federal government and other states and municipalities at a time when Covid infection rates are declining, Bloomberg reported.
“The city has provided no explanation, much less a rational one, for the need to violate autonomy and privacy of NYPD officers in such a severe manner, on the threat of termination,” the union said.
PBA shared Friday’s development on their ongoing legal battle over the COVID-19 jab mandate.
“I am writing with a critical update on our lawsuit against the Department’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate,” said Patrick Lynch, President of the Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York.
“The judge in the case has ruled that the vaccine mandate is INVALID as applied to PBA members, and has ordered that all members who were terminated and/or put on leave without pay as a result of non-compliance be reinstated,” Lynch added.
Here is the text from the judge’s order:
ORDERED that the vaccine mandate is invalid to the extent it has been used to impose a new condition of employment to current PBA members; and it is further
ORDERED that the mandate is invalid to the extent that it seeks an enforcement in any other manner than proscribed by law, namely monetary sanctions; and it is further
ORDERED that 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.
ORDERED that the vaccine mandate is invalid to the external it has been used to impose a new condition of employment to current PBA
members; and it is furtherORDERED that the mandate is invalid to the extent that it seeks an enforcement in any other manner than proscribed by law, namely monetary sanctions; and it is further
ORDERED that 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.
“We are currently analyzing the ruling and are awaiting information from the City regarding how it intends to comply with the judge’s orders. However, 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. We will continue to fight to protect those rights,” Lynch said.
Unsurprisingly, New York City says they will be “immediately appealing” the ruling, ABC 7 reported.
The New York Post added:
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.
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