NY Court Employee’s Vaccine Accommodation Claims Head to Jury

The New York state court system will have to prove to a jury in federal court that it didn’t violate the law when it fired a former clerk for refusing to take the Covid-19 vaccine.

The key question of whether senior court clerk Vince DeMaria refused to take the vaccine based on sincerely held religious beliefs is a “quintessential factual issue that cannot be resolved at summary judgment” and can only be resolved by a jury, Judge Paul A. Engelmayer said Friday.

DeMaria was fired—and later rehired—for refusing to comply with the Unified Court System’s vaccine mandate. In May 2023, ...