A group of New York educators has filed an emergency lawsuit asking the Supreme Court to overturn the city’s “draconian” coronavirus vaccine mandate before it goes into effect.
In the lawsuit filed Thursday against the New York City Department of Education, Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter, Democratic New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, and Commissioner of the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene David Chokshi, four educators asked the high court to issue an emergency injunction to stop de Blasio’s August executive order mandating vaccines for public school teachers from taking effect on Monday.
“Such an ongoing, draconian punishment shocks the conscience, violates constitutional rights, and not only should not be permitted, but must be restrained immediately to prevent irreparable harm,” Rachel Maniscalco, Evelyn Arancio, Diana Salomon, and Corinne Lynch allege in their lawsuit, saying de Blasio’s order “violates the Due Process Clause of the United States Constitution.”
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The appeal to the Supreme Court, which will be reviewed by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who is responsible for emergency lawsuits from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, follows a Thursday order from the lower court that the stay on enforcement against people with religious objections would remain in effect until an appeal was resolved. That court scheduled arguments for Oct. 14.
In compliance with de Blasio’s announcement that New York will start enforcing vaccination requirements for Department of Education employees, the city’s Department of Education website explained that all “unvaccinated staff” are required to submit proof that they’ve either received a single dose of a coronavirus vaccine or have been fully vaccinated by 11:59 p.m. on Friday. Staff who chose not to receive a coronavirus vaccine without a documented exemption will be removed from the payroll beginning on Monday, the website adds.
In response to de Blasio’s announcement, the United Federation of Teachers, which represents the majority of teachers in the city, will be “working with” their members to “ensure” schools are able to “open safely” as the vaccine mandate is enforced throughout New York City, a spokesman said in a press release.
While city officials currently estimate around 97% of Big Apple teachers have been vaccinated, a survey conducted by UFT showed only “one-third” of chapter leaders believe schools will be able to open “without disruption, given the possible shortage of unvaccinated personnel, including school aides and security personnel,” according to the press release.
“The city has a lot of work before it to ensure that enough vaccinated staff will be available by the new deadline,” the press release added.
Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, the second-largest teachers union in the United States, has come out in support of employees of her union working with local school districts to create vaccine mandates, according to Education Week.
“As a matter of personal conscience, we need to be working with our employers, not opposing them, on vaccine mandates,” Weingarten said, indicating she supported working with educators, parents, and union leadership on the issue.
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New York began enforcing the “Key to NYC” initiative on Sept. 13, which requires everyone 12 and older to show proof of vaccination to enter restaurants, gyms, and entertainment venues in the city unless they have medical or religious exemptions.
President Joe Biden announced on Sept. 9 that his administration would mandate healthcare workers to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, in addition to requiring that large businesses either require their employees to be vaccinated or comply with weekly testing. This announcement came as part of Biden’s six-part initiative to address the coronavirus pandemic and the surge of the delta variant.
