Mayor Eric Adams is offering 2,900 former city workers who lost their jobs after refusing to comply with COVID-19 vaccine mandates a path to return.
The Department of Citywide Administrative Services published a notice Wednesday of a proposed rule that would allow the teachers, firefighters and other municipal employees who were dismissed to apply to be reinstated. The proposed rule change will be subject to a public hearing and final approval by the New York state Civil Service Commission, according to the mayor’s office.
The former workers would be able to regain their old titles at their former salaries, but would not be eligible for backpay, the mayor’s office said.
Adams said in a statement Wednesday that the 2021 vaccine mandate, which was put in place by predecessor Bill de Blasio, helped the city weather the pandemic.
“But we recognize that we are in a different place today than we were nearly four years ago, and our policies should match the realities of the times,” Adams said.
The move comes as the city is still embroiled in multiple lawsuits with city workers who were fired over the mandate. According to City Hall, the policy change wouldn’t affect the ongoing litigation and those seeking to return to work wouldn’t be asked to drop their lawsuits.
Michael Kane, a former special education teacher who was fired over his refusal to get vaccinated, celebrated Adams’ decision but said he was baffled by the timing.
“There’s this little lame duck window where I guess Adams is deciding to act, which, as frustrating as it is, I do still appreciate,” said Kane.
Representatives for Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani did not immediately respond to a question about whether he supports the move.
Since losing his job, Kane has leaned into activism against vaccine mandates. He formed Teachers for Choice, a group representing Department of Education teachers affected by the mandate and helped organize other city workers.
He also said he has worked for Children’s Health Defense, the anti-vaccine nonprofit previously chaired by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the current Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which has spread false claims linking vaccines with autism.
Kane said some other former municipal workers had a much harder time than he did after refusing the city’s vaccine mandate.
“ I know people who were made homeless because of this mandate,” Kane said. “I know people who were forced to live out of their car. I know people who are driving Ubers right now. I know people whose retirements were ruined. I know people whose marriages fell apart.”
De Blasio first announced that city workers would be required to get vaccinated against COVID-19 in fall 2021, a few months after the first shots became widely available to the public.
The move was immediately met with protests, including a march on City Hall. Workers who didn’t comply with the mandate were initially put on administrative leave and those who continued to refuse the shots were ultimately fired. The mandate was lifted in February 2023. At least 450 workers who were fired over the mandate have already returned to their positions, according to City Hall.
But Kane said the policies around returning to work have not been uniform.
Former city employees and other members of the public will have a chance to testify on the proposed reinstatement rules at a virtual hearing hosted by the Dept. of Citywide Administrative Services on Nov. 19.
