Garvey Goes Back to Court
Attorneys presented oral arguments at a state appellate court this week, as 16 sanitation workers defend their pivotal 2022 legal victory over New York City's vaccine mandate.
Jump to the bottom for two previously unpublished videos of in-depth conversations I had with two of the Garvey petitioners-respondents while the mandate was still in effect.
On Monday morning at the Monroe Place Courthouse in Brooklyn, petitioners-respondents’ attorney Chad LaVeglia presented oral arguments before a panel of four appellate court judges in an appeals hearing for Garvey et al. v. The City of New York et al., while attorney Amy McCamphill argued for the City.
The City brought the appeal after New York State Supreme Court Judge Ralph Porzio issued an October 2022 decision in favor of 16 Department of Sanitation (DSNY) workers who sued the city after being fired for defying NYC’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
That decision struck down the mandate, declaring it arbitrary and capricious and unconstitutional, but the orders in Porzio's decision were stayed by the appeal and the workers were not reinstated.
After the April 15 appellate hearing, attorneys Sujata Gibson and Chad LaVeglia spoke with workers who attended in support of the DSNY 16 outside the courthouse. Michael Kane from Teachers for Choice and Matt Connor from Bravest for Choice were among those attending, and both discussed state legislation their organizations are supporting and opposing. Watch:
Lead petitioner-respondent George Garvey spoke with me after the hearing about the case and where the long legal process has left affected City workers.
You can watch Chad LaVeglia and the City’s attorney Amy McCamphill present their arguments to the panel of four appellate justices on the court’s website (beginning at 7:15 in the video). You can also watch the hearing here along with commentary from Cafecito Break
Attorney Sujata Gibson, who is serving as co-counsel with Chad LaVeglia in the appeal, talked with me outside the courthouse about the significance of Garvey and some of the arguments being made.
She also gave an update on some other major lawsuits related to NYC’s mandates, and talked about two new cases she’s about to file:
More About Garvey v. NYC
If Garvey v. NYC is new to you, here’s some key coverage to bring you up to speed on the case, along with in-depth conversations with Chad LaVeglia and two of the Garvey petitioners who spoke with me while the mandate was still in place:
Live coverage from the Richmond County Courthouse with Chad LaVeglia and Garvey v. NYC petitioners, just after Judge Porzio issued his October 2022 decision.
Click the “full story” link at the bottom of each episode to go to the full video interview:
VIDEO: New York Mandate Podcast, Ep. 25: Attorney Chad LaVeglia
“To allow this kind of governing to continue is very, very dangerous, and it will lead to a point where every single person’s rights and liberties will be taken away. . . . This is not the first time in our history that this situation has occurred. . . . If you allow this injustice to occur—even if you like the outcome—you're threatening the foundation …
VIDEO: New York Mandate Podcast, Ep. 10: Sanitation Worker Curtis Cutler & Liz Cutler
“As Christians, we believe God owns our body, bought with a price. First Corinthians, chapter six tells us that this is a temple of the holy spirit. We believe that Christ shed his blood on that cross, and he bought us with the most valuable price there ever could be. And that was his blood, his life. . . . I'm not going to do anything to violate what's…
VIDEO: New York Mandate Podcast, Ep. 8: Sanitation Worker Danny Hulkower
“I think we need a labor party. I think that the only thing that's going to break the Democrat-Republican nonsense and the Third Way politics that they've created is by creating a third party that focuses on the most important thing about being an American: having a job, having a stable job.” - Danny Hulkower
Thank you for reporting.
Why is it that the legal system is speedy when it wants to throw you in jail but it takes forever when it comes to ruling on a CLEAR CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUE?
Maybe we need to eject judges that play these legalese bullshit games.
As much as I like some judges decisions, they are holding back their full power over and over because they are COWARDS.