In Grullon v. City
of New York, (NY County Sup. Ct., Feb. 3, 2023), a New York state
trial court held that the New York Police Department's denial in internal
appeals of a police officer's religious objections to the Department's Covid
vaccine mandate was arbitrary and capricious. The court said in part:
“[D]espite
Petitioner's detailed submission, the Appeals Panel failed to even mention any
of Petitioner's arguments, let alone refute them as being non-religious in
nature or not sincerely held beliefs. The decision also failed to mention
NYPD's underlying decision denying Petitioner's application or the basis of the
decision including the reasons listed on the checked boxes. The decision also
failed to mention that it was affirming NYPD's denial and that it agreed with
any of the reasons for which the underlying denial was based. Simply, the
denial of the appeal is devoid of any explanation, reasoning, or support for
its determination that Petitioner's request for a reasonable accommodation did
not meet criteria. The Appeals Panel failed to state what the criteria was for
obtaining a reasonable accommodation, it failed to include which criteria
Petitioner's request failed to satisfy, or any details or support for its
determination. Without any explanation or details, the purported reason provided
that it did not meet criteria is tantamount to no reason at all.”
The court
concluded that the officer is entitled to employment with a reasonable
accommodation of weekly Covid testing.
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