More than 150 New York state court employees face getting fired in fewer than two weeks if they don’t get the COVID-19 vaccine.
The 156 employees — about half of whom work in New York City — received a letter Monday warning them to comply with the court system’s vaccine mandate by April 4.
“You are not in compliance with the Vaccination Mandate and therefore, have been deemed unfit for service for your failure to meet the qualification(s) necessary for employment,” reads the letter obtained by The Post.
The workers were warned that their employment “will be terminated” if they fail to comply, according to the note, first reported by Law360.
Among the group are four judges.
Judges can’t be canned by the Office of Court Administration but can be forced to work from home, barred from conducting arraignments or referred to the Commission on Judicial Conduct, a spokesman said.
“These employees have been given adequate time to either comply or submit an accepted medical or religious exemption,” said OCA spokesman Lucian Chalfen in a statement, noting they are part of a workforce of 15,000.
“Currently they are barred from entering any court facility, and their absence is being charged to any accruals that they may have.”
The mandate has caused outrage among some workers who say it’s unfair they’re required to show proof of vaccination when everyone else coming into court — such as lawyers and defendants — aren’t bound by the same rules.
After the mandate was instituted in September, Dennis Quirk, president of the Court Officers Association, organized a large protest outside the Westchester County home of Chief Judge Janet DiFiore — and publicly posted her address. He was suspended amid the spat.