Refusing to be proven wrong or held accountable for their draconian measures, proponents of The Science™ have allowed their pandemic policies to stand and, in New York City, that meant another 850 teachers and classroom aides were recently shown the door.
Under former NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio, mandated compliance with the FDA’s emergency authorized shots of highly questionable efficacy was enforced for city employees and those diktats continued with the election of Mayor Eric Adams. Now, despite numerous legal challenges supporting medical freedom, the NY Department of Education followed through with their plan to terminate those who refused the jab following a Sept. 5 deadline, as reported by the New York Post.
The heavily challenged mandate had taken effect on Oct. 29, 2021 and legal disputes staved off terminations for many until February when 1,400 city employees lost their jobs, including 914 Ed. Dept. workers after a federal judge approved the action.
Others had attempted to holdout for a change in policy and agreed to take a one-year leave of absence without pay that would end with either their showing “proof of COVID vaccination” or they would be “deemed to have voluntarily resigned.”
Of the 1,300 reported taking the unpaid leave with benefits, only 450 “are returning to their prior schools or work locations,” officials told the Post and that included around 225 teachers and 135 paraprofessionals. The 850 terminated brought the tally of Ed. Dept. workers fired since the mandates were enacted to almost 2,000 while professional athletes had been granted an exemption in May.
Fuming fired NYC workers aim to sue Eric Adams over vaccine exemptions for privileged athletes: report https://t.co/0mxrZ52vAr
— American Wire News (@americanwire_) March 25, 2022
Rachelle Garcia, a Brooklyn elementary school teacher and mother of two with 15 years experience, lamented to the Post how she worked throughout the pandemic and never got sick, but now like 70 percent of other city employees who sought a religious exemption she was denied and is left seeking employment elsewhere.
“I really put my eggs in one basket, hoping and praying that at the last minute our mayor would turn everything around in time for me to go back to work,” she explained.
“I’m angry, I’m hurt, to be cast aside like I was nothing. Because I couldn’t give a proper goodbye to my students, other teachers told me they kept asking, ‘When is Ms. Garcia coming back?’ That made me cry so much,” Garcia went on. She informed the outlet that she has begun applying t o jobs on Long Island.
Whether Garcia plans to mount any further challenges to her termination was not made clear. However, the Post did note that a Manhattan judge had ruled in favor of an NYPD officer who had been terminated over his compliance with the mandate finding that he could not be fired because the city had not provided a reason for rejecting his religious exemption.
Other legal successes have shown that the main factor in allowing the mandates to persist has been a willingness to comply and that the unlawful policies don’t stand up in court. Even after termination, legal recourse has still been found for some as happened in Chicago when more than 500 fired employees of the Northshore University HealthSystem settled for over $10 million and were granted a return to their jobs if they wanted them back.
‘Win for medical freedom!’ Healthcare workers win ‘historic’ settlement over Covid shot mandates https://t.co/Hx3yVqH2EO
— American Wire News (@americanwire_) August 2, 2022
As Liberty Counsel founder and chair Mat Staver who represented the fired medical workers had said at the time of the settlement, “Let this case be a warning to employers that violated Title VII. It is especially significant and gratifying that this first classwide COVID settlement protects health care workers. Health care workers are heroes who daily give their lives to protect and treat their patients. They are needed now more than ever.”
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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