(Reuters) - The New York state court system has withdrawn a requirement that judges and employees receive COVID-19 vaccines, according to a filing made on Thursday in a judge's lawsuit claiming he should have been granted a religious exemption.
Lawyers for Frank Mora, a city court judge in Poughkeepsie, New York, said in the filing that the state Unified Court System issued a memo to employees on Wednesday announcing that the mandate adopted last year would be discontinued.
As a result, Mora's request for a preliminary injunction seeking to have his full job duties restored is moot, but the underlying lawsuit should proceed, his lawyers wrote.
Lucian Chalfen, a spokesman for the court system, confirmed that the vaccine mandate has been withdrawn effective on Friday and declined to comment on Mora's lawsuit. The court system has not filed a response to the lawsuit.
The court system last April fired 103 employees who did not comply with the vaccine requirement and required Mora and three other judges to work remotely.
State court administrators cannot fire judges but can recommend that the state Commission on Judicial Conduct take disciplinary action against them.
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