NY court workers fired for refusing COVID vax must be rehired with back pay

[Kamaji]

NY court workers fired for refusing COVID vax must be rehired with back pay as state board scraps mandate

By Larry Celona, Bernadette Hogan and Bruce Golding
March 5, 2023

New York court workers must be rehired — and given back pay with interest — if they were fired because they refused to get the COVID-19 vaccine, the state’s Public Employment Relations Board has ruled.

Under terms of the decision issued last month, the Unified Court System must immediately “cease and desist” from enforcing policies that require all non-judicial employees to be vaccinated or undergo regular testing.

In addition, anyone “who lost accrued leave, compensation or employment” will have to be made “whole,” with interest paid “at the maximum legal rate,” according to the Feb. 24 decision obtained by The Post.

The decision affects at least about 25 court officers who were fired, said Dennis Quirk, president of the New York State Court Officers Association, one of 10 unions that challenged the mandate.

A total of about 200 court workers were either fired or resigned or retired, Quirk said Sunday.

*  *  *

Source: https://nypost.com/2023/03/05/ny-board-tosses-covid-19-vax-mandate-for-court-workers/

[mountaineer]

 

[Polly Ticks]

That's great news!  I hope we see more of this.

I wonder what happens to the employees that they (theoretically?) hired to replace those who are now being reinstated?

[Kamaji]

That's great news!  I hope we see more of this.

I wonder what happens to the employees that they (theoretically?) hired to replace those who are now being reinstated?

Therein lies a bit of a rub:  they also have employee protections under the union contract, so NY will most likely have to continue to pay them, at least for a certain period of time.

[Smokin Joe]

Good!