NEW YORK—Nearly a year ago the City of New York required all its employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19. A few religious and medical exemptions and accommodations were granted, but for the most part, anyone who filed for either was denied.

Those who lodged requests included police officers, sanitation workers, schoolteachers—just about every position citywide. Those who were denied and still refused to take the jab were put on unpaid leave and many were ultimately terminated.

But some fought back.

As reported by The Epoch Times, one such combatant is Jim Hogue, a high school history teacher in Forest Hills, Queens.

As reported by The Epoch Times, last year teachers were not able to request religious accommodation on the city’s Self-Service Leave Application System (SOLAS).

A special education teacher on the middle school level in Brooklyn who spoke to The Epoch Times on the condition of anonymity said she had uploaded all her information, including a statement from her pastor, but when she got to the final step of “submit,” a message popped up saying she was “non-compliant to the mandate,” and could not apply for this exemption.

In mid-August of 2022, SOLAS was modified with one enormous change: In bold, red letters it said, “Please be advised at this time you cannot apply for a COVID vaccine-related exemption/accommodation for 2022–2023 school year.”

Hogue faced the same dead end.

However, a week after his story was posted on The Epoch Times’ website, SOLAS was...

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