Teachers in New York City who refused to receive the COVID-19 vaccination were subject to having their personnel files flagged. According to a legal group, their fingerprints were sent to the FBI as well as the New York Criminal Justice Services.
New York City’s vaccine mandate required that all Department of Education employees be fully vaccinated against COVID no later than Sept. 5, 2022. Nearly 1,950 NYC Department of Education employees were fired in September 2022 for refusing to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
Eric Adams, New York City Mayor, ended the mandate to immunize NYC workers on February 10.
However, Department of Education employees who weren’t vaccinated against COVID was reported to have been given a “problem code” in their personnel file.
A Bronx assistant principal was fired for failing to get the COVID vaccine.
According to an affidavit, she applied for over 60 jobs in that time span. However, no offers were received because, according to one interviewer, the DOE had attached a problem code to her due to alleged misconduct. She waited for a decision and her home was put into foreclosure. Her son had to leave college so she was forced to get vaccines to support her family.
According to the Alliance Defending Freedom, a former therapist at NYC’s Early Intervention Program for children who have disabilities or developmental problems discovered that she was given a “problem code” by an agency she was working with.
“I was shocked to learn that I had been flagged ineligible for work,” the former employee stated. Problem codes can often be used to indicate poor performance, misconduct or criminal activity. The former employee said that none of these applies to her. “I didn’t understand how someone outside of the DOE could have this inaccurate information about me. I was extremely embarrassed at its negative implications and was deeply disappointed that I had had to tell the families I was assigned that I couldn’t service their children.”
Teachers for Choice, a self-described “organization made up of parents and teachers that are 100% against forced medical mandates for Americans to keep their jobs, especially educators,” argues that the FBI and New York Criminal Justice Services send teachers’ “fingerprints” with that flag.
New York Criminal Justice Services maintains criminal history records, and fingerprint files, and conducts background checks to ensure employment and licensure.
Teachers for Choice claims that once the personnel files have been flagged, they are sent to the national databases at both the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Justice.
John Bursch, an attorney for Alliance Defending Freedom, represented New York City workers who were fired in court on February 8.
Bursch stated in court that “In addition, these problem codes are in the personnel files.”
Bursch stated that “when the city places these problem codes on employees terminated for violating the Constitutional policies, they not only have that flag in their files but also their fingerprints are sent to the FBI/the New York Criminal Justice Services.” It affects their ability to find employment.
Bursch stated to the Daily Caller that even for those who are eligible for reinstatement, all applicants have so-called “problem codes” in their personal files. This is because they purportedly failed a contractual condition which was to be vaccinated.
Bursch stated that the city didn’t like it when some people objected on religious grounds to the vaccine and that they punished them accordingly.
Court proceedings & audio show that the personal files and fingerprints of every NYC teacher who refused the COVID vaccine were “sent to Criminal Justice Services and the FBI” pic.twitter.com/Xc8DDb0CYZ
— Jeremy Loffredo (@loffredojeremy) February 10, 2023
