Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor on Friday refused to block New York City’s requirement that its public school teachers and employees be vaccinated against COVID-19.
Sotomayor denied a challenge by four teachers and teaching assistants who sought to halt enforcement of the vaccine mandate while their lawsuit challenging the policy continues in lower courts. Public school system workers were ordered to be vaccinated by 5 p.m. on Friday or face being placed on unpaid leave until September 2022.
Some governments and private employers have embraced vaccine mandates to guard against the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace as they try to return to some degree of normalcy after coronavirus pandemic-related disruptions that began last year. Such mandates have become a flash point in the United States, with opponents including those in New York City saying their constitutional rights are being violated.
