Trufant Walks Out on Public Testimony from Unvaccinated Firefighters

Muriel Goode-Trufant nominated to head Corporation Counsel which continues to appeal unvaccinated worker court victories

Yesterday at City Hall there was a committee hearing for the confirmation of Muriel Goode-Trufant, who was nominated to head Corporation Counsel. This is the legal department that oversees all of NYC’s lawsuits, and they have been fighting tooth and nail against fired unvaccinated NYC workers for over 3 years now.

Dozens of fired unvaccinated workers showed up to protest outside City Hall with only 24 hours notice, and many went inside as well to watch the hearing and give testimony. Aimee of NYC for Yourself interviewed some of these fired workers outside:

After Trufant gave her testimony, she walked out without listening to the public testimony of unvaccinated fire fighters who lost their jobs. On her way out, Councilwoman Joann Ariola brought Trufant to meet Sophy Medina and Matt Connor of Bravest for Choice. When Sophy spoke, Trufant very rudely walked away without recognizing her in any fashion.

You can watch this surprising encounter here.

Joann Ariola had just finished questioning Trufant for 6 minutes during the hearing, and kept all of her questions focused on the plight of unvaccinated NYC workers. She did a phenomenal job! You can watch that exchange here.

Trufant was not confirmed yesterday as there still needs to be a full confirmation hearing. Some City Hall insiders I spoke to wonder if Trufant’s confirmation will be “snuck in” right before the holidays.

We shall see.

I asked my friend and colleague Matt Conor of Bravest for Choice who attended City Hall for the Trufant protest and hearing to give me his perspective on the situation.

Here is what he had to say:

Today, Bravest For Choice attended the meeting of the New York City Council Committee on Rules, Privileges, and Elections in protest of Mayor Adams' nomination of Muriel Goode-Trufant to head Corporation Counsel.  Trufant, who was named first assistant Corp. Counsel in 2023, is the current acting head of Corp Counsel, and Mayor Adams' pick to succeed Sylvia Hinds-Radix- who counted her defense of the Covid-19 vaccine mandate among her successes in her farewell address to her Law Department colleagues.  

The ongoing opposition of the Law Dept. to litigation on behalf of city workers fired for declining the COVID shot signals that we can expect the persecution of these workers to continue if Goode-Trufant is to be confirmed by the City Council.  This position is reflected in the Law Department's 2023 Annual Report, in which the city's defense of the vaccine mandate is presented as a feather in the law department's cap.  

The report notes this defense as an accomplishment in two separate instances: 

Pandemic-related Litigation: Handled a range of pandemic-related litigation in federal and state appellate courts, including constitutional and statutory challenges to employee vaccination requirements.

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COVID Vaccination Mandate: Maintained successful defense of the reasonable accommodation process employed by agencies when considering religious and medical exemptions from the mandate, as well as defended dozens of Federal and State court actions challenging individual denials of religious and medical accommodations to the COVID vaccine mandate.

Goode-Trufant's testimony today further solidified the expectation that the Law Department will continue to expend resources to fight our displaced workers.  Notably, when questioned by Councilwoman Ariola, Goode-Trufant indicated that the Law Department is appealing mandate cases to uphold the city's ability to take similar measures during future public health emergencies.  For her participation in the systematic persecution of city workers that have declined the COVID shot and for clinging to the supposed validity of the fraudulent mandate (illuminated by COVID czar Dr. Jay Varma's recent expose in which he acknowledged natural immunity while pushing a zero tolerance policy of coerced vaccination), Bravest For Choice stands firmly in opposition to Mayor Adams' most recent nomination of Muriel Goode-Trufant for Corporation Counsel. 

TEACHERS FOR CHOICE joins Matt and NYC’s Bravest in firm opposition to the nomination of Trufant.