Constitutional challenge to COVID-19 vaccine mandate fails in 2d Circuit

COVID-19 cases are still making their way through the federal courts. This one was filed by public sector employees in New York City who claim the vaccination mandates violate the U.S. Constitution. Plaintiffs lose their constitutional challenges on appeal.

The case is New Yorkers for Religious Liberty v. City of New York, issued on November 13, more than 1.5 years after the case was argued. These issues are complex, and prior to COVID-19, the federal courts had rare occasion to analyze the legality of vaccine mandates. We have a number of issues in this decision, which does not really break new ground and instead reiterates some of the holdings the Court of Appeals has handed down over the last few years on this issue.

1. Plaintiff's request to rescind the mandate is mooted because the City halted the mandate in February 2023, following oral argument in this case, and there is no reason to believe the mandate will ever return. Federal courts are not the forum for theoretical legal arguments, so without a live case or controversy, there is no argument that the mandate must be rescinded under the Constitution.

2. While plaintiffs want reinstatement to their old positions and backpay following the termination of their employment over noncompliance with the mandate, that argument fails, but not on mootness grounds. Even if the case were moot, prior harm may still yield compensation. But in this case, plaintiffs seek this relief through a preliminary injunction, which requires proof that they are likely to prevail on the merits and will suffer irreparable harm without obtaining the relief now. The problem for plaintiffs is that they filed their injunction motions after they were terminated, which means there is no specific present objective harm or a threat of any specific future harm. The damage has been done, and that means there is no irreparable harm. The damages due the plaintiffs will have to wait until the end of the case.

3. While plaintiffs claim the mandates violated the Free Exercise and Establishment Clauses (the two religious freedom provisions under the First Amendment), both challenges fail. The Free Exercise challenge fails because the vaccine mandate was facially-neutral and did not single out any religious practices. The Second Circuit held as such a few years ago in a related case, and that remains the law in this Circuit. As for the Establishment Clause challenge, the Court finds there is no evidence that any religious animus by statewide officials tainted the mandate process.