In a landmark ruling, a Tel Aviv labor court ruled on Sunday that a school can prevent unvaccinated employees who refuse to undergo regular COVID-19 testing from coming to work, determining that children’s safety comes first on staff rights.
The ruling was issued in the case of a teaching assistant at a school in the city of Tzur Yigal, central Israel, who appealed the local council’s decision to require all members of school staff are vaccinated or regularly undergo coronavirus screening tests to be able to come to work.
The court ruled that the teaching assistant, Sigal Avishai, will not return to work and will not be paid.
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Judge Meirav Kleiman ruled that by weighing Avishai’s right to privacy and personal autonomy and the right of students, parents and staff to avoid the risk of contracting COVID-19, the balance “clearly tips” in favor of the latter.
Israeli students at Orot Etzion School in Efrat wear masks as they return to school for the first time since the start of the coronavirus outbreak, May 3, 2020 (Gershon Elinon / Flash90)
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Ms Kleiman said her decision stemmed “from existing information on the vaccine’s effectiveness in preventing infections, and after weighing the obvious and immediate harm that could be done to students – children with special needs who cannot obey the rules of distancing – and to many third parties, including parents and school employees, if they are infected ”.
She said that while requiring the employee’s COVID-19 testing was unpleasant, the harm caused is “relatively small,” as is the violation of her privacy as she has to disclose medical information. personal.
“This is a welcome precedent that will have an effect on the whole economy,” commented Naama Shabtay Bahar, a labor lawyer who represented the local council of Kochav Yair-Tzur Yigal.
“The labor court struck the right balance between workers’ rights and the interest of the general public,” she told the economic news site Globes. “Every employee has the right to be vaccinated or not. But each employee must also take responsibility for this decision. The responsibility should certainly not lie with employers, whose aim is to protect their employees and the general public they serve. “
An Israeli is vaccinated against COVID-19 at a Magen David Adom mobile station in the Mahane Yehuda market in Jerusalem on February 22, 2021. (Olivier Fitoussi / Flash90)
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Earlier this month, the Supreme Court issued a temporary injunction barring the health ministry from providing local authorities with information about people who have not been vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus. The court also asked government agencies and health care providers to explain why legislation allowing the ministry to do so has not been repealed.
The controversial law, which was approved last February by the Knesset, allows the health ministry to transfer data to municipalities and the education ministry for a period of three months. The legislation aims to encourage unvaccinated people to get vaccinated and prohibits the use of this information for other purposes.
In their ruling, the judges cited laws “undermining the constitutional right to privacy” guaranteed by the quasi-constitutional Basic Laws of Israel.
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