In Kane v. DeBlasio, (SD NY, Aug. 26, 2022), a New York federal district court rejected a challenge by New York City teachers, administrators and staff to New York City's public employee COVID vaccine mandate. They claimed the mandate violates their 1st and 14th amendment rights. Discussing plaintiffs' free exercise claim, the court said in part:
The Second Circuit has already found that “[t]he Vaccine Mandate, in all its iterations, is neutral and generally applicable.”...
Ignoring the fact that the pandemic has claimed the lives of more than a million people in the United States, plaintiffs take the bold position that the Mandate has the “express purpose of inflicting special disability against minority religious viewpoints,” ... rather than its obvious and explicit goals to ... “potentially save lives, protect public health, and promote public safety.”...
Plaintiffs’ arguments that the Vaccine Mandate is not generally applicable again rely on arguments that the Second Circuit already rejected.
