This is kind of a big deal.
The Covid vax demand and subsequent firing has turned out to be a very costly authoritarian oopsie for NY Democrats.
The New York State Supreme Court reinstated all employees who were fired for not being vaccinated on Monday, ordering backpay and saying their rights had been violated.
The court found that "being vaccinated does not prevent an individual from contracting or transmitting COVID-19." New York City Mayor Eric Adams claimed earlier this year that his administration would not rehire employees who had been fired over their vaccination status.
NYC alone fired roughly 1,400 employees for being unvaccinated earlier this year after the city adopted a vaccine mandate under former Mayor Bill de Blasio. Many of those fired were police officers and firefighters.
FDNY-Firefighters Association President Andrew Ansbro and FDNY-Fire Officers Association President Lt. James McCarthy condemned Adams earlier this year after the mayor allowed an exception to the vaccine mandate for athletes and performers, even as firefighters were still being fired over their status. The pair called on the city to expand the exception to all New Yorkers.
"If you're going to remove the vaccine mandate for certain people in the city, you need to remove it for everybody in the city," Ansbro said. "If you're gonna follow the science, science is gonna tell you there isn't any danger right now and putting hundreds of firefighters, police officers, and other emergency workers out of work is not in the best interest of the city. It's not safe."
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