NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — A federal judge in New York City rejected an attempt Tuesday to impose a temporary restraining order on the city's public schools after a special education teacher requested a vaccine exemption for religious freedom.
"Plaintiffs have not made an adequate showing to entitle them to a temporary restraining order," Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil. "If I were to grant injunctive relief today there could be an enormous disruption for school for thousands of New York City school children."
Queens special ed teacher Michael Kane, who led the lawsuit, previously told New York Amsterdam News that the city imposed a "fraudulent exemption process."
"Unvaccinated teachers are not a danger to the schools that they work in," Kane said. "We have implemented multiple layers of mitigation to make sure the schools are safe. To say that teachers are less safe than those that are vaccinated defies the science."
The city's mandate on public school staff and teachers, in full effect as of Monday, requires those unvaccinated to stay home on unpaid leave.
Mayor Bill de Blasio called the Department of Education vaccination progress "stunning" on NY1 Monday.
"96% of the teachers, 99% of the principals, overall, all employees combined, 95% of full-time employees, made the right decision, did the right thing, got that vaccination," he said. "That's a stunning figure."
