“God forbid we have another outbreak of something and a vaccine comes along, and all these people who fought for now years—we don't want this to happen again. . . . We still have liberty, we still have property rights, and our due process can't be taken away from us because we have an emergency situation.” - Austin Graff
In this episode of the New York Mandate Podcast, I talk with Austin Graff, an attorney who is representing New York City workers who were put on leave without pay and terminated under the City’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates in two major federal lawsuits.
We talk about the case brought by teachers and other current and former Department of Education employees, Broecker et al v. New York City Department of Education et al, and the one brought by FDNY firefighters, Garland et al v. New York City Fire Department et al. Both lawsuits were recently dismissed by Judge Kiyo Matsumoto in the New York Eastern District federal court and are moving into appeals.
Graff gets into the details of how an arbitration process set the course for implementing the mandates, why the Broecker case named workers’ unions and union officials as defendants, and how affected workers can still join the lawsuits.
More from Austin Graff:
You can contact Austin Graff at: agraff@scherlawfirm.com
Here are some links related to things we talked about during the episode:
Broecker et al v. New York City Department of Education et al
This proposed class action suit was filed on behalf of 93 current and former DOE employees against the DOE, the City, workers’ unions, and the arbitrator who created the process by which the DOE’s vaccine mandate was implemented, along with numerous City and union officials. (The full court documents are available via the federal court system’s Public Access to Court Electronic Records website, which requires an account and may charge a small fee for access to documents.)
Garland et al v. New York City Fire Department et al
This proposed class action suit was filed on behalf of 50 current and former FDNY employees against FDNY and department officials. (The full court documents are available via the federal court system’s Public Access to Court Electronic Records website, which requires an account and may charge a small fee for access to documents.)
New York State Public Employment Relations Board (PERB)
This state agency was created in 1967 with the enactment of the Public Employees’ Fair Employment Act (the Taylor Law), and is charged with administering labor laws and resolving labor negotiation disputes, among other functions.
Court Workers for Choice
This is an organization of New York State court system workers who opposed the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for court workers. You can find the PERB decision in their case on their website.
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I talk with workers, students, and parents who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the City introduced a series of requirements for workers and to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio. They covered nearly all workers in New York City, in both the public and private sectors. They also barred unvaccinated adults, including parents, from schools.
Current mayor Eric Adams kept the mandates in place until November 1, 2022 for the private sector and February 10, 2023 for City workers, and has encouraged private employers to put their own vaccine requirements in place.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as an independent contractor as a result of your decision not to comply with a New York vaccine mandate? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
New York Mandate Podcast, Ep. 37: Attorney Austin Graff