The following e-filed documents, listed by NYSCEF document number (Motion 001) 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31 were read on this motion to/for DISMISS. DECISION + ORDER ON MOTION Upon the foregoing documents and oral argument, Defendants the City of New York (the “City”), the New York City Police Department (the “NYPD”), Michael Melocowsky (“Melocowsky”), Eric Eichenholtz (“Eichenholtz”), and Tanya Meisenholder (“Meisenholder”) (collectively identified as “Defendants”) move to dismiss Plaintiff’s amended complaint pursuant to CPLR §3211(a)(7) on the grounds that Plaintiff’s claims are barred by res judicata and fail to state a cause of action upon which relief may be granted. Plaintiff, Jeffrey Hunold (“Plaintiff”) opposes the motion. For the reasons stated herein, Defendants’ motion is granted. BACKGROUND Plaintiff was a police officer with the NYPD from January 2005 to July 2022 (NYSCEF Doc No. 11, verified amended complaint
1, 14).1 As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, on October 20, 2021, the commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene issued an order mandating all city employees, including employees of the NYPD, provide proof of at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by October 29, 2021 (see Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination for City Employees and Certain City Contractors [October 20, 2021], available at https://www.nyc.gov/assets/doh/downloads/pdf/covid/covid-19-vaccination-requirement-city-employees.pdf [last accessed August 12, 2024]). Plaintiff is a Christian who applied on October 27, 2021 for a religious accommodation to be exempt from the COVID-19 vaccine (NYSCEF Doc No. 11, verified amended complaint 22). The NYPD denied Plaintiff’s request on February 15, 2022 (id.
