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Jump to the bottom for two previously unpublished videos of in-depth conversations I had with two of the Garvey petitioners-respondents while the mandate was still in effect.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: