Unredacted emails obtained after a three-year legal battle show that top New York City officials and government lawyers coordinated efforts to counter requests for religious exemptions from COVID-19 vaccine mandates, privately dismissing the exemption requests as “BS.” Attorneys said the “smoking gun” emails raise constitutional questions and could impact lawsuits filed by fired workers.

The records, obtained through New York’s Freedom of Information Law (FOIL), show top city officials and government lawyers working together behind the scenes to push back on religious exemption requests, privately dismissing workers’ beliefs while building arguments to help arbitrators deny them.

Attorney Jimmy Wagner, who led the records fight, said the documents expose a “smoking gun.”

In the lawsuits over the documents, the unredacted versions were visible to everyone in the courtroom except the plaintiffs’ attorneys, Wagner said. City lawyers knew exactly what the emails contained while making arguments that directly contradicted them.

“They’re literally arguing out of both sides of their mouth,” Wagner said.

https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/smoking-gun-emails-show-new-york-city-officials-played-role-firing-unvaccinated-workers/?