A lawsuit filed against New York City, in federal court, has revealed that teachers not vaccinated against covid-19 were "flagged" with "trouble codes" by the New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) after city officials sent their fingerprints to the FBI.
The affidavit written by Betsy Combier, president of the advocacy group Advocatz, detailed how, teachers who were unable or unwilling to get vaccinated, were flagged with problem codes in their employment files without having any evidence of misconduct. The accusations point out that this directly affects the educators' ability to get future jobs.
Declaration... by Verónica Silveri
"Punishing" those who did not want to get vaccinated
Sujata Gibson, an attorney representing the plaintiffs, commented to The Defender, that the mandatory vaccination mandate "was never about public health" and sought to "punish" those who refused to vaccinate:
These are teachers with excellent work histories who have dedicated their lives to teaching in public schools. It is unacceptable for the DOE to place problem codes on their employment files and mark their fingerprints with the FBI simply because they were unable or unwilling to get vaccinated. This was never about public health. It was about punishing those whose religious and other beliefs do not align with corporate interests in an effort to make it impossible to dissent.
Unvaccinated people are denied jobs
NYCDOE assigns "trouble codes" to the files of employees who"should not be hired because of unexplained misconduct of some kind."
When DOE places a problem code in the employee's personnel file, it also places a mark on the employee's fingerprints, which is then sent to national databases at both the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the State Division of Criminal Justice Services.
According to Combier there are "trouble codes" in the personnel files of educators who did not receive the covid-19 vaccine . That "code" is removed from the file right after the employee receives the vaccine:
I have represented more than 15 DOE employees... In proceedings in which they requested the elimination of their problem codes. The flag has several names such as 'problem code', 'pr' code, 'pc' code, 'ineligible' and 'no hire/query' code.
DOE places the problem code in the employee's personnel file immediately upon receiving information that the employee did not submit proof of vaccination. As soon as the employee receives the vaccine and submits proof, the code is removed from his or her file.
The statement is clearly evidenced through an email sent by a DOE official how a "problem code" was added to the files of "DOE employees who were placed on leave without pay for failure to vaccinate in violation of the mandate" of the vaccine.
