OCA fires 100 court employees
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Over 100 court employees throughout the state were terminated by the OCA Wednesday after they failed to comply with the court system’s vaccine mandate. AP file photo by Ted S. Warren
By Jacob Kaye
Over 100 court employees in New York State were fired Wednesday after they failed to comply with the Office of Court Administration’s vaccine mandate.
The OCA terminated 103 court employees, including 51 who work in New York City courts, who didn’t submit proof of vaccination by close of business on Monday, April 4, according to an OCA spokesperson.
The OCA sent out a communication to 156 non-judicial court employees two weeks ago, on March 21, notifying them that they’d be terminated if they didn’t comply.
According to OCA spokesperson Lucian Chalfen, 41 of those employees initially contacted submitted proof of vaccination and will soon return to work in-person. One of the employees resigned and 11 told the state comptroller’s office that they’d be retiring.
Chalfen did not comment on how many of the fired employees worked in Queens courts.
George Grasso, the administrative judge for Queens Supreme Court, Criminal Term, told the Eagle that he has not seen any effect of the firings play out in the courtroom, nor does he expect to.
“We’re doing fine,” Grasso said. “We’re doing everything we need to be doing.”
There are also a handful of judges who have yet to comply with the vaccine mandate and who are not allowed to enter any of the state’s court facilities. The deadline did not apply to the jurists, however potential disciplinary action is being taken against the four judges, according to Chalfen.
“All four of the judges who were not in compliance with the vaccine mandate, two in New York City and two outside New York City, remain so and they continue to be barred from entering any court facility and must work from home,” Chalfen said.
“We had made it clear from the outset that any Judge not in and continuing not to be in compliance subjects themselves to a referral to the Commission on Judicial Conduct for their determination,” he added.
One of those judges is Justice Jenny Rivera, who serves on the Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court.
Rivera has been working remotely since October, appearing via video conference on a television next to her fellow justices.
Rivera was appointed to the Court of Appeals by former Governor Andrew Cuomo in 2013. She was not present at the swearing in ceremony for her new colleagues, Judges Madeline Singas, Anthony Cannataro and Shirley Troutman.
As was true of other vaccine mandates issued throughout the state, the court’s mandate was subject to legal challenge.
The New York State Supreme Court Officers Association brought a suit against the mandate shortly after it was first announced.
Though Supreme Court Justice Christina L. Ryba granted the union a temporary restraining order, pausing the implementation of the Unified Court System’s mandatory vaccination program, in late September, Acting Rensselaer County Supreme Court Justice Adam W. Silverman ruled that the mandate could go forward in October.
The OCA is not the first government body to fire unvaccinated employees. In February, Mayor Eric Adams fired over 1,400 municipal employees who hadn’t got the shot.
Should the court’s vaccine mandate change, it’s unlikely any of the fired employees will be invited back.
“If someone steals something and then returns it, it doesn’t mean that they are absolved of the larceny,” Chalfen told the Eagle in March.
