City workers talk loss of employment

When Covid vaccine mandates were introduced, many felt as though their rights were being challenged.

Anthony C., 30, of Rego Park, was teaching at a Brooklyn school when he learned he would have to get vaccinated against Covid-19 or lose his job.

“I considered a fake vaccination card, but I didn’t want to get in trouble or lie,” Anthony, who declined to use his last name, told the Chronicle. “I didn’t file a religious exemption for that reason, either. I’m not religious.”

At the time, in late 2021, he was fresh out of graduate school and new to teaching. He decided he’d be better off quitting instead of fighting back.

“I didn’t even consider suing or anything,” Anthony said. “I didn’t want to get into it with the Department of Education, so I left.”

He said that while he understood the gravity of the pandemic, he didn’t want to get the vaccine.

“It’s my body, my choice,” he stated. “I know that phrase is usually used by women — and I support that, too — but it works universally. Government shouldn’t police our bodies.”

The vaccine mandate for city employees was imposed in a series of orders over several months in 2021 to reduce the spread of Covid. It was rescinded in February 2023.

Anthony lived at home with his family, relying on savings until the private sector mandate was lifted and he was able to find employment. He’s now a teacher at a private school.

Jack Lin, 40, of Jackson Heights was an EMT who served the FDNY and city for more than 14 years. A member of the Dutch Reformed church, Lin said his refusal to vaccinate against Covid was a personal choice rooted in his religious beliefs.

He was put on leave without pay in April 2022, he told the Chronicle, and terminated in June 2022 after his religious exemption was denied twice.

Lin said there were no significant discussions at work regarding the vaccine mandate prior to his termination.

“It felt like a slap in the face to report to in-person work during the height of the pandemic in 2020 only to have my constitutional religious freedoms violated,” he said. “To be terminated two years later after the worst of the pandemic was over in 2022, after over 14 years of exemplary service to the people of NYC, felt particularly egregious.”

Lin said he kept appealing a denial of unemployment benefits and kept getting rejected. In September 2024, he had a second hearing to discuss the specifics of his faith, and was yet again denied.

“From June 2022 to December 2022, the six-month period I really could’ve used the financial help from unemployment insurance, I received no help from NYS [Department of Labor],” Lin said. “It’s important to note and remember that during that same period, there was a private sector mandate that was in effect along with the public sector mandate and there were extremely limited opportunities if any to find work.”

He relied on financial and emotional help from family and friends until he was able to find employment after the private sector mandate was lifted. Lin is now involved in various ministry work.

Asked if he pursued litigation following his termination, Lin said, “I waited and held off on any legal action for about two and half years hoping that the FDNY and NYC would recognize their error and rectify it and make me whole. However, they have not reinstated me with backpay and back time to date and I am currently part of a lawsuit for [Equal Employment Opportunity] and Human Rights violations.”

The lawsuit was filed in December 2024, Lin added.

There are also plenty of advocacy groups that are still fighting for the rights of terminated employees due to vaccine noncompliance, such as Teachers for Choice and Bravest for Choice, which represents firefighters, medics and EMTs.

In government, the employees have allies in members of the City Council’s Common Sense Caucus, including its co-chairs, Queens Councilmembers Bob Holden (D-Maspeth) and Joann Ariola (R-Ozone Park), and Councilmember Vickie Paladino (R-Whitestone).

“Every night during the pandemic, we clapped for our city workers — then the government turned its back on them when they were fired, forced to resign, or retire due to unjust mandates,” the caucus said in a joint statement to the Chronicle.

“Most people have moved on from that terrible period in our city’s history, but those workers are still fighting to get their jobs, their lives and their dignity back, while the city is spending millions in taxpayer dollars to fight them in court. That’s why our Caucus will never turn our backs on these heroes and will not stop fighting until they are lawfully reinstated and rightfully compensated.”

Find more Covid remembrance stories tagged “SARS-CoV-2: five years later” in print or at qchron.com throughout March.