'Victory,' Mass. State Police union says of ruling to reinstate 7 troopers who refused COVID vaccine
BOSTON - Massachusetts State Police must reinstate seven troopers who refused to be vaccinated for COVID-19, an independent arbitrator has ruled. The troopers' union called the decision a "victory" Monday for the officers who they say were discriminated against by then-Gov. Charlie Baker.
The troopers have been on unpaid leave, but the arbitrator's decision means they can return to work with retroactive pay if they choose.
The union representing state troopers, which held a news conference Monday outside the State House, filed a grievance after the law enforcement officers were suspended following Baker's 2021 order requiring executive department employees to be vaccinated.
"The problem and the charge that we took with the grievance was they were not allowed to have a reasonable accommodation. There was nothing they could do based on their sincerely held religious belief to serve you, the Commonwealth," union president Patrick McNamara said. "That's the victory that we had today, that Charlie Baker discriminated against our members, our members that were found to have a sincerely held religious belief, and we were victorious to prove that."
Current Democratic Gov. Maura Healey lifted the vaccine mandate in May.
Massachusetts State Police are in the process of determining the "scope as well as the administrative and legal steps" needed to implement the arbitrator's ruling, David Procopio, an agency spokesperson, said Sunday in an email.
The arbitrator concluded State Police violated a collective bargaining agreement in the way they handled the cases of eight troopers who cited religious grounds for refusing to take the vaccine. The agency summarily dismissed the troopers instead of reviewing their accommodation requests, the arbitrator said Friday. One of the eight troopers later returned to work.
"These troopers have endured immense suffering and emotional distress while suspended," McNamara said.
The State Police Association of Massachusetts criticized the former Baker administration for refusing to work with the troopers.
"These members, whose religious convictions were trampled, and who were left without pay or benefits, now can choose to return to work and will be made whole through retroactive pay and earned seniority," McNamara said.
He said the union will continue to fight for another 13 troopers who weren't deemed eligible for exemptions and were fired or dishonorably discharged for failing to get vaccinated.
That case will be heard in the fall as part of a separate hearing.
"We're confident with those facts and that those outcomes will be the same," attorney Leah Barrault said.