Supreme Court declines second appeal from NYC teachers over vaccine mandate

An emergency appeal by a cohort of New York City public school teachers to block the city’s vaccine mandate was denied by the Supreme Court on Friday, NBC News reported.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who is in charge of cases for that area, rejected the appeal but did not provide further details explaining her reasoning, the network noted.

This was the second time the teachers’ request was rejected. A similar request filed by the group last year was also denied without comment by Sotomayor.

Unless they drop their objections to getting the vaccine or waive their rights in pursuing a legal challenge, the city’s public school employees have said they will face termination on Monday, ABC News reported.

The public school teachers were seeking an emergency injunction because they believed that their religious freedoms were violated because the city considers certain criteria for religious exemptions, according to the emergency appeal, NBC News reported.

NBC News noted that employees who may not belong to a specific congregation or affiliation may not be able to secure a religious exemption for the vaccine mandate because a religious official must support the exemption.

While the Supreme Court has declined to take up the New York City teachers’ case, the high court last month ruled against the Biden administration’s vaccine-or-test mandate for businesses with at least 100 employees, which it said was an overreach.

“The Secretary has ordered 84 million Americans to either obtain a COVID–19 vaccine or undergo weekly medical testing at their own expense,” the justices wrote last month. “It is instead a significant encroachment into the Lives—and health—of a vast number of employees. … There can be little doubt that OSHA’s mandate qualifies as an exercise of such authority.”

Updated 7:38 p.m.