NYC fights ruling forcing it to reinstate firefighter fired over vax mandate
New York City is appealing a court ruling forcing it to reinstate a Staten Island firefighter who lost his job after he opposed the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for religious reasons.
The FDNY filed a notice of appeal Monday, shortly after Timothy Rivicci – who won a suit to get his job back earlier this month – said the city should be held in contempt for failing to put him back to work at Engine 158.
“When the judge made his ruling I thought I would finally be getting my life back to normal and I would get to continue the career that I love,” Rivicci told The Post in a statement. “With this I thought my financial worries were over as well.
“However, the city’s refusal to reinstate me has brought me to the brink of foreclosure.”
Rivicci, 31, brought the contempt motion — which also seeks to fine the city $10,000 a day — arguing officials have ignored the ruling from Staten Island Supreme Court Justice Ralph Porzio reinstating him effective Oct. 5.
Porzio, in his ruling, found it was unlawful for the city to deny Rivicci’s request for religious exemption without offering any explanation for the denial.
And last week, Porzio also ordered the city to pay Rivicci $192,000 for the costs of legal fees for bringing his case and for back pay from when he was fired on Nov. 5, 2021.
But Rivicci’s lawyer Christina Martinez said the city still hadn’t put her client back to work or paid him the judgment money – which could potentially force him to foreclose on his home that had already been in forbearance.
Martinez said after inquiring multiple times about the status of Rivicci’s job, the city only informed her Oct. 20 that they decided to appeal and wouldn’t be reinstating him in the meantime, according to the court papers seeking the contempt order.
“The FDNY has filed a notice of appeal which triggers an automatic stay of the court’s ruling,” a spokesperson with the city Law Department told The Post. “The religious accommodation decision by the FDNY and the citywide appeal panel was rational and lawful.”
“Unvaccinated firefighters can threaten the health and safety of fellow first responders and the public they closely interact with, including the most vulnerable,” the statement said.
But Martinez responded that even if a stay is triggered with the appeal it “does not change the fact that [the city] disregarded the court’s order for almost three weeks.”
“Firefighter Rivicci should be fighting fires right now, like Judge Porzio directed,” Martinez said.
Rivicci – who’s been with the department since 2016 – and his wife both opposed getting the jab as born-again Christians. His wife, a city teacher, was also fired under the vaccine mandate.
Rivicci told The Post through his lawyer that he has wanted to become a firefighter since he was a kid to follow in the footsteps of his dad and uncle. He worked in the same Engine that his dad retired from.
“I wanted to be a firefighter for as long as I could remember,” Rivicci said. “I grew up with my dad and my uncle who were both firefighters and I always looked up to them and wanted to be just like them.”
The FDNY deferred comment to the Law Department.
