A Manhattan judge has ruled in favor of New York City’s largest police union and determined that NYC’s vaccine mandate for NYPD cops is “invalid.”
State Supreme Court Justice Lyle Frank ruled on the case put forward by Police Benevolent Association (PBA) members.
The judge also ordered all PBA members who were terminated or put on leave without pay as a result of non-compliance must be reinstated by the city.
Frank wrote: “In support of its contention that the DOH Commissioner can unilaterally create employment conditions, respondents cite to holdings of recently decided federal cases and trial court decisions.
“This argument too is unpersuasive.
“Respondents cite a multitude of cases where this Court, as well as others, have denied petitions based on vaccination being a condition of employment, however in those instances, the City and the respective union collectively bargained to include the vaccination mandate as a new condition of employment, that is not the case here.”
PBA President Patrick J. Lynch said:
“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.
“Now that the city has abandoned any pretense of a public health justification for vaccine mandates, we expect it to settle our pending lawsuits and reinstate with back pay for members who unjustly lost their jobs.”
Officials in New York City fired back at the ruling and vowed to appeal it.
“We are immediately appealing this ruling,” the city’s legal department said.
“It is at odds with every other court decision upholding the mandate as a condition of employment.”
The PBA issued a press release that said:
“A Manhattan state Supreme Court judge ruled today that New York City’s vaccine mandate is invalid as applied to PBA members and has ordered that all PBA members who were terminated and/or put on leave without pay as a result of non-compliance be reinstated.”
Huge win against the Vaccine mandate for Police Officers in NYC pic.twitter.com/TUQa5skNyz
— Rob O’Donnell (@odonnell_r) September 23, 2022
Statement from @NYCPBA Pres. Pat Lynch on decision striking down NYC vax mandate for PBA members.
Read decision and order here: https://t.co/GNtdzEgStu pic.twitter.com/tfbMxa6Kq3
— NYC PBA (@NYCPBA) September 23, 2022
