The board ordered back pay and expunged records - the appeals court reversed it all
An Illinois appeals court on June 26, 2026, handed Chicago a win over its COVID vaccine mandate, overturning a labor board ruling.
For HR and labor-relations leaders, the decision is worth a close read - not for the vaccine politics, but for what it says about running a policy through two legal channels at once.
Back in August 2021, the City of Chicago told all city employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19 or test twice a week on their own dime. Anyone who failed to report their status by October 15, 2021, or get vaccinated by December 31, 2021, would land in nondisciplinary, no-pay status.
The city said it could put the policy in place on its own under its union contracts, while still discussing the effects. The police unions saw it differently. They argued the policy and its effects both had to be bargained, and they sent the city twelve requests for documents and information.
Talks did not produce a delay, so the city implemented the policy on October 8, 2021. The unions hit back on two tracks. They filed an unfair labor practice charge on October 13, 2021, and grievances the next day.
The grievance track is where the case turned. After a four-day hearing, an arbitrator denied the grievances and found the mandate a reasonable use of the city's management rights. He set fresh vaccination deadlines and, over the following 18 months, issued four more awards sorting out discipline,...
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