“A group of New York City teachers has asked the U.S. Supreme Court for an injunction to stop the city from enforcing its COVID-19 vaccine mandate, court records show.

The emergency injunction request was filed Thursday, a day before Department of Education employees must receive at least their first COVID-19 shot to continue working.

“While a temporary interruption of work is not actionable, the mandate here would have a permanent effect: it is open-ended, where if a teacher never gets vaccinated, he or she will never be able to return to work,” the plaintiffs said in their petition.

The petitioners say an immediate injunction is necessary, arguing the “Court will lose the opportunity to provide meaningful relief” to public school employees if it does not issue an injunction before the Friday 5 p.m. deadline for DOE staff to get their first shot.

The mandate, which was originally supposed to go into effect this past Monday, requires all teachers and staff to get at least one dose of the vaccine. Unlike other municipal workers, DOE employees cannot test out. Opponents sued over the mandate, saying it’s unconstitutional.

The petitioners Thursday argued the mandate puts students’ education at risk, and would result in thousands of unvaccinated public school employees losing their jobs.

“This obvious and immediate harm is a violation of the substantive due process and equal protection rights,” the plaintiffs said.

Mayor Bill de Blasio has said firings would not be immediate, but urged DOE staff to get vaccinated if they want to to keep their jobs.

The Department of Education said about 81% of city education department employees are vaccinated, including 87% of teachers, as of last Thursday. That means 19% of DOE employees, and 13% of teachers, won’t be able to go into school buildings this coming Monday unless they get their first shot by Friday at 5 p.m.

Officials say they have a reserve pool of 11,000 substitute teachers, as well as former teachers working in other areas in the department, that could be tapped if there are any staffing shortages related to the mandate going into effect.

Right now, about 10,000 teachers remain unvaccinated.

“Plaintiffs have no valid claims and have stated no basis for the Court’s intervention,” Katie O’Hanlon, a city Department of Education spokesperson, said in a statement. “Courts have spoken. The Health Department has the authority to implement a mandate that is firmly grounded in science and the expertise of public health officials from across the nation.”

The mandate has gone back and forth in courts in recent weeks, including earlier this week, when a federal appeals panel ruled Monday that the city could move forward with the requirement.”

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Added: AP article

9/30/21, “Teachers turn to US Supreme Court over NYC vaccine mandate,” AP via Amsterdam News

“A group of teachers asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday for an emergency injunction blocking implementation of New York City’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for public schools staff.

The city has given its roughly 148,000 school employees until 5 p.m. Friday to get at least their first vaccine shot, or face suspension without pay when schools open on Monday.

An original deadline earlier this week was delayed by a legal challenge. A federal appeals panel decided Monday that the nation’s largest school district could go ahead with the mandate.

An email was sent to City Hall seeking comment.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has said he is confident courts will uphold the city’s efforts to exclude unvaccinated staff from school buildings, where they might infect co-workers or children too young to get the shots.

The battle over the safety of city classrooms is occurring as the state of New York is sparring in court with opponents of its vaccine mandate for workers at hospitals and nursing homes.

Courts allowed the mandate to go forward, but a federal judge in central New York has temporarily barred employers from enforcing it against people who have religious objections to getting the shots. Only a small slice of health care workers have sought a religious exemption.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan issued an order Thursday that the stay on enforcement against people with religious objections will remain in effect until an appeal is resolved. It scheduled arguments for Oct. 14.”…

 

 

 

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