Vaccine mandate ruled 'Invalid' for New York Police Association members

A Manhattan judge ruled on Friday that members of the Police Benevolent Association in New York City have to be "reinstated to the status they were as of the date of the wrongful action," after some had been terminated for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine. 

According to CBS News, over 1,750 New York City employees have been fired for refusing to get the shot.

Manhattan Judge Lyle Frank stated in the ruling:  

"To be unequivocally clear, this Court does not deny that at the time it was issued the vaccine mandate was appropriate and lawful, the Court however does not see, nor have respondents established a legal basis or lawful authority for the DOH to exclude employees from the workplace and impose any other adverse employment action as an appropriate enforcement mechanism of the vaccine mandate."

The president of the Police Benevolent Association (PBA) Patrick Lynch released a statement on twitter in response to the ruling: 

"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," the statement read. "We will continue to fight to protect those rights."

Others also came out in support of the ruling, including heads of two Fire Department of New York (FDNY) union chiefs — Uniformed Firefighters Association President Andrew Ansbro and Uniformed Fire Officers Association President James McCarthy, the Epoch Times reports. 

"It was only a matter of time before a common sense Judge concluded that the COVID-19 vaccination mandate was never a condition of employment," the two union heads wrote.