The Firsthand Report ⌗2
In this issue: Religious Liberty Commission hearing and open letters, DCAS response on reinstatement rule change, media radar
☞ In FR#1, I reported that a rule change required to reinstate many former NYC workers was never sent from the Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) to the state Civil Service Commission for approval. In response to my inquiry, DCAS DIRECTOR OF MEDIA RELATIONS DAN KASTANIS SENT ME THIS STATEMENT today:
The Covid-19 pandemic was a grave public health emergency that brought with it lingering impacts that our city continues to recover from, including how it affected our workforce.
At the same time, we acknowledge that there are former city workers awaiting an update; we are working with City Hall to provide an update.
Sounds a lot like Mayor Mamdani’s response to me that he would “follow up on” the issue back in January. I’ll be following up myself until there’s an actual answer.
☞ The Religious Liberty Commission held its hearing on RELIGIOUS LIBERTY ISSUES IN HEALTHCARE AND SOCIAL SERVICES yesterday. Two of the panels of witnesses covered abortion, gender ideology, and assisted suicide, while a third was devoted to religious exemptions to mandatory vaccinations.
The main focus of the religious exemption panel was mandatory school vaccinations. Two mother-and-daughter pairs, one from California and one from New York, spoke about their experiences. Doctor and ethicist Dr. Aaron Kheriaty discussed his own experience suing his employer over its COVID-19 vaccine mandate and getting fired, as well as the broader issues of informed consent and religious objections in medicine.
However, there was no other testimony on workplace vaccine mandates. Hermione’s testimony during the last hearing remains the only testimony before the Commission on NYC’s workplace COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
That doesn’t mean the Commission hasn’t heard from more New Yorkers. Many have told me they’ve sent their stories to the Commission. Michael Kane from Teachers for Choice and Matt Connor from Bravest for Choice also published open letters to the Commission detailing the ongoing impact of the New York policies.
If you’d like to send your own letter to the commissioners, they’re still accepting personal stories of religious discrimination and issue briefs to inform their report on the state of religious liberty in the United States.
You can watch yesterday’s hearing here:
MEDIA RADAR
📡 Attorney Jimmy Wagner was on Michael Kane’s CHD show today talking about a “smoking gun” email chain he tracked down with a years-long FOIL process. Wagner says it reveals that top NYC health officials and lawyers worked with the United Federation of Teachers to build a legal case for denying religious exemptions from the COVID-19 vaccine mandates before they were even in place.
📡 Danny Hulkower has a new YouTube channel called The Digital Disputation where he’s talking about labor issues and New York politics. He’s one of the 16 former DSNY sanitation workers who were fired under the mandate and sued the City in Garvey v. NYC.