New court documents reveal that an upstate judge who is unvaccinated is suing New York courts for “paradoxically” excluding her from the courthouse while allowing her inside as an attorney.
Judge Jennifer Donlon, one of two part-time justices in Steuben County’s Hornell City court, claims her requests for religious and medical exemptions from the COVID-19 vaccine were denied without explanation, according to a complaint she filed Thursday in Manhattan Supreme Court.
The lawsuit claims that the Hornell native, who was appointed judge in 2017, is not permitted to preside over cases in the Hornell City courthouse and may only do so remotely.
Nonetheless, “when Judge Donlon is not sitting on the court, she practices law as a sole practitioner” and “was the city’s first female sole practitioner,” according to the plaintiff’s lawsuit.
By September 27, 2021, all court staff, including judges, were obliged to be vaccinated. The ruling would not apply to Donlon, a private attorney who is not a court employee.
She can enter the courthouse as an attorney, but not as a judge, according to her lawsuit.
According to the lawsuit, Donlon asserts that the contradiction demonstrates that the vaccine policy is “completely arbitrary and capricious.”
Donlon’s lawsuit, which names the New York Unified Court System and the New York Office of Court Administration as defendants, seeks to reverse the rejection prohibiting her from sitting in person on the bench.
Donlon claims that her requests for religious and medical exemptions were denied without explanation.
As one of the few judges in the state to decline the jab, Donlon states that “she is an outcast” and that it will be difficult for her to find a judge who will oversee the case impartially.
The lawsuit asserts that Ms. Donlon begins the proceedings on an uneven playing field. This Court has a difficult assignment.
According to court documents, Donlon requests that the assigned judge “handle her as Your Honor would expect to be treated if the roles were reversed.”
As we have not been served and litigation is pending, it would be improper to speak further, said Lucian Chalfen, spokesman for the New York State Courts.
»NY Judge Jennifer Donlon sues courts for ‘paradoxical’ vaccine denial«