The New York State judicial system suspended the union leader representing court officers after he posted the home addresses of Chief Judge Janet DiFiore on social media amid a dispute over a coronavirus vaccine mandates.
Court Officers Union President Dennis Quirk put DiFiore at “grave risk of death” by posting her Westchester and Hamptons area addresses on Facebook, said Office of Court Administration spokesman Lucien Chalfen.
Quirk, 71, had apparently been trying to encourage court officers to picket the judge’s homes, after she tried to impose a vaccine edict for workers without input from the union.
“[Quirk] has been suspended for 30 days without pay and his firearms privilege revoked,” Chalfen said in a statement.
“The charge is misconduct – by placing the home address of the Chief Judge on a public Facebook page, creating a substantial risk of serious physical injury or grave risk of death to her, her family and the law enforcement officers charged to protect them,” the statement said.
Quirk, who has worked for the court system for 47 years, makes $94,416 annual salary. He is on release time as he works for the union.
For his part, Quirk was unapologetic.
In a Facebook post, he called DiFiore “the most corrupt and unethical judge in the history of the NYS court system” after suspending him “for providing her home addresses for court employees to picket her to express their outrage at her refusal to follow the EEOC [Equal Employment Opportunity Commission] regulation to negotiate the mandatory COVID vaccine with all court unions.”
“She cannot suspend me from the union and [I] will continue working 24/7 representing my members,” he said.
Quirk told The Post Friday the public safety argument is specious because DiFiore has court officers’ protection 24/7 — including outside her homes.
The union is considering filing an unfair labor practice against OCA.
Meanwhile unions representing school employees said they will file an unfair labor practice against Mayor Bill de Blasio for imposing a vaccine mandate without their input.
The state Health Department on Thursday also passed an emergency edict that requires virtually all health care workers in hospitals, nursing homes and other medical settings to get the COVID-19 vaccine — or face disciplinary action including termination.
The controversial vaccine mandates are aimed at curbing the spread of the contagious Delta strain of the coronavirus. Studies reveal the Delta variant is far less infectious among vaccinated people.