NYC's Mayor Adams Stands Down and Drops the Mandate for the City's Public Sector Workers

While the Mayor's move is a step in the right direction -- it doesn't (at this moment) give back the jobs of the nearly 2,000 workers who were unlawfully terminated under forced resignation. They must reapply, but that will not automatically reinstate the seniority and benefits that were accrued over years of employment. And a mayoral spokesperson said that the city will not provide backpay.

We can't forget that the Dept of Sanitation workers and other essential health care and public sector employees, were forced out of their jobs AFTER working through the worst of the pandemic. Their previous employment status must be restored and our State Legislators would be smart to do the right thing by supporting these efforts.

Attorney Chad LaVeglia's progress for the Sanitation employees comes on the heels of another recent win in New York Supreme Court on January 17th. In Onondaga County, Judge Gerard Neri struck down the mandate for healthcare workers, finding that the Governor and the NYS DOH cannot enforce a mandate that hasn’t been passed into law by state legislators.

Additionally, attorney Jim Mermigis is representing 72 NYC employees who lost their jobs for not complying with the mandate. He has filed a $250 million lawsuit seeking to end the rule as the pandemic is winding down. The employees are asking a judge to overturn the mandate given that politicians, including President Biden, Gov. Kathy Hochul, Sen. Chuck Schumer, have “all declared the pandemic is over.”

Many of the fired employees (NYPD, FDNY, Department of Education, Department of Health and other agencies) worked for the city for over 20 years, but they “were ‘thrown to the curb’ and callously terminated,” the suit claims. The city also “failed to engage in a cooperative dialogue” with workers who filed applications for religious and medical exemptions, violating city's Human Rights laws, the suit alleges.