The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear a challenge brought by four New York City public school employees against the city’s vaccine mandate. As a result, the order continues to stand.
The case was dismissed on April 18 without comment, meaning no justice indicated interest in the case. It was one of more than 100 cases the court dismissed that day.
The plaintiffs were four teachers who previously asked lower courts and Justice Sonia Sotomayor to block the mandate. The lower courts allowed the order to stand while it was being litigated, and Justice Sotomayor rejected an emergency request to put the policy on hold.
New York City’s Department of Education began requiring public school employees to be vaccinated in the fall of 2021, with religious and medical exemptions. All employees who were not exempt and did not get the vaccine by October 1, 2021, were subject to suspension without pay for up to 1 year.
The teachers argued that the mandate violated their due process rights and prevented them from practicing their profession because the Department of Education is the only agency that hires public school teachers in the city.
“This case presents the Court with the opportunity to address a critical constitutional issue — whether public-school teachers have a fundamental right to practice their profession,” the teachers wrote in their petition to the Supreme Court. “Furthermore, the Court can provide needed guidance to the lower courts regarding the flood of COVID-19 vaccine mandate-related cases already pending and expected.”
The lawyers for New York City argued that the teachers “made no attempt to explain how the vaccination requirement either prevented — or even impaired — their ability to work as teachers or paraprofessionals for another employer.”
Vinoo P. Varghese, who represented the teachers, told Forbes that the teachers “are disappointed in the result, but we will continue the fight to protect the due process rights of our teachers against the new administration of Mayor Eric Adams.”
The City fired more than 1,400 unvaccinated public employees in February. Three of the teachers who brought this case were fired, with the fourth currently on an extended leave.
According to New York City’s health commissioner, Ashwin Vasan, the vaccine mandates for on-site workers will continue indefinitely. The City has, however, ended vaccine mandates for athletes and performers.
The Supreme Court has, in prior rulings, prevented federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates. For example, it struck down the Biden administration’s order requiring tens of millions of private employees at many companies to receive shots.
However, the court has consistently allowed vaccine mandates at the state and local levels to stand despite challenges, including Maine’s vaccine mandate for its healthcare workers and Indiana University’s vaccine requirement.