Albany judge exempts DC 37 court employees from NY court system vaccine mandate while case proceeds

By Molly Crane-Newman New York Daily News Oct 01, 2021

Another 1,000 New York City courthouse employees won temporary relief from a requirement that they be vaccinated against COVID-19 or lose their jobs.

Albany Supreme Court Judge Christina Ryba on Friday temporarily barred state court officials from enforcing a vaccine mandate on members of District Council 37, the city’s largest public employee union. Ryba’s ruling affects about 1,000 court reporters and interpreters in the five boroughs in criminal and civil courts.

With the addition of DC 37 members, about 8,300 people — or half of the state’s courthouse workers — are currently exempt from the vaccine mandate imposed by court officials on Sept. 27.

The Civil Service Employees Association sued the court system on Sept. 24, winning a temporary restraining order against enforcement of the mandate on its members. New York’s state’s Supreme Court Officers union asked the court to intervene on Sunday, hours before the mandate came into effect.

Under the court orders, the union members will remain exempt from the mandate at least until Ryba hears arguments from them and lawyers for the court system on Oct. 8.

The unions’ position is that the mandate imposed by the state Unified Court System must be negotiated with union bargaining committees. “Apparently standing on principle, even during a seminal event, is more important than the lives, health and safety of their own members,” said Office of Court Administration spokesman Lucian Chalfen.

According to OCA, as of Friday afternoon, 13,590 of the 15,650 judges and all nonjudicial employees complied with the court’s vaccine mandate policies. That number includes some employees who are exempt from it. Chalfen said those in compliance are either fully vaccinated or have received their first shot.

An additional 1,000 employees have applied for either a medical or religious exemption. That number includes people represented in the three union lawsuits.

Excluding them, Chalfen said, 97% of nonjudicial employees have complied with the mandate. Out of New York’s 1,300 state-paid judges, one is still refusing to get the vaccine. Officials wouldn’t identify that judge.