September 6, 2023 Staten Island. NY. MFA Members witnessed the Judge Porzio decision in the precedent-setting DiCapua v. City of New York case in Staten Island. This is a case involving a CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT on behalf of the NYC teachers who were fired because they refused to get experimental mRNA technology injected into their bodies (aka “the vaccine”). Specifically, these teachers had filed religious exemptions.

This was MFA’s third appearance in Staten Island in support of the teachers in this landmark case. Before the decision, Plaintiff Michael Kane said that no matter what the decision, it does NOT define us. And the fight for the justice inherent in bodily autonomy will continue.

Judge Porzio’s decision was a mixed bag, with some definite WINS, and the fight will certainly continue! There is a Link to the entire 22-page decision at the end of this entry, but it is summarized as follows:

⦁ The judge DENIED the motion to certify the teachers as a class, saying that the teachers had not met the class requirements, that the class was “overbroad”.
⦁ The judge DENIED that the teachers’ constitutional rights were violated.
⦁ The judge GRANTED reinstatement to work for SOME (not all!) of the plaintiffs in the case, saying that the denied plaintiffs did not exhaust all the bureaucrat measures available to them.
⦁ The judge GRANTED back pay for the same aforementioned plaintiffs, and, again, not all of the plaintiffs.
⦁ The judge GRANTED the plaintiff attorneys’ fees.

HOWEVER, when the “reinstated” teachers reported back to work, they were turned away. The City has this case “under review”, and is likely planning an appeal, and the teachers are once again left in limbo. It appears that the City is not yet done “punishing”, and making an example of, these teachers for standing up for the sovereignty of their OWN BODIES.

Sujata Gibson of The Gibson Law Firm in Ithaca, New York, who is representing the teachers, told us after the ruling that, as a matter of law, the judge should NOT have dismissed the claims that our Constitutional rights were violated and that she plans to file more motions (and more after that, if necessary) to get justice.

Thank you, Sujata Gibson! The fight continues….

BELOW ARE SOME LINKS:
NYC for Yourself Coverage: https://youtu.be/y-75ppYnkl0

To read Judge Porzio’s Decision:

https://mfany.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/MFA-Staten-Island-9.6.23-Decision.pdf