Teachers Accused of Faking Their COVID Vaccination Deserve Due Process

From Editor Betsy Combier:

The COVID pandemic has created pandemonium worldwide and is the first truly global event that has ever been recorded. People in every country, at every socio-economic level, have been affected in some way. My purpose in posting the story about 82 teachers allegedly buying fake vaccination cards to keep their jobs at the NYC Department of Education is to plead with all who read this to look for the facts before judging anyone.

I grew up in New York City seeing first-hand the theater of politics and the devastation caused by lies, slander and false claims. There was no such thing as “social media” when I was growing up, but the bullying and lies of mean girls in my class at my grade school were just as destructive, although in a smaller arena, a private all-girls school.

The theater of politics was very clearly present in my home, as my dad, P.Hodges Combier 1960, was Assistant Attorney General for the State of New York and often had the current or former Mayor come to dinner, as well as my dad’s boss Louis Lefkowitz. I remember hearing talk of facts, false claims, proof, etc., and hiding when John Lindsey came over because I thought he was very handsome and tall. My mom was a musician and she grew up in the Broadway theater, her mother was a trustee of the Neighborhood Playhouse.

Remember what Shakespeare wrote:

All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women on it merely players“. Whenever my parents had many people over, I created a play and gave each person in the apartment a part in it. My plays always led to a good conclusion, a happy ending. Hey – it was my play, I could make my actors find solutions because I wrote it that way.

Anyway, enough diversion from my current goal: to urge all readers to hold off believing any accusations are true until they are proven by a preponderance of the evidence. I thought of bringing in my thoughts in terms of theater and acting, because the TONY Awards are being held in New York City tonight (June 12, 2022). We are celebrating actors who do the best job playing characters who perhaps never existed, or if they did, may have never spoken nor sung the words in the play. But for those two hours, we believe them. I love the drama in telling stories, either in words or song, and started my company, Theater kids, Inc., in 1994. I helped children with disabilities write their own plays, then asked professional actors and actresses to read the plays to the parents on a stage, just like they would in preparation for a  Broadway show.

Anyone who works for a government is called a “State Actor“. See where I am going? When a government employee writes something or makes an Executive order, like Mayor de Blasio did when he announced the COVID Vaccine Mandate in August 2021, and it went into effect October 4, 2021, de Blasio is a state actor. As such he and the Department of  Education are being sued in Federal Court for not complying with the limitations on their ‘roles’ as far as complying with the City, State, and America’s Constitutions. (Kane v de Blasio; Keil v City of New York).

Perhaps you think that state actors do not get celebrated for how well they play their roles. Certainly, state actors are paid big bucks to play their roles. In that sense, as long as they play their roles “correctly” according to the standards set by the people who pay them, namely the government money managers, they stay on stage. Oh wait – you say you elected them? Therefore as taxpayers you can tell them what to do? I suggest you re-think that. For instance, a few days ago the public heard that the Judge in the Kane-Keil cases cited above, Valerie Caproni, has a major financial investment in Pfizer, the Company which manufactures one of the COVID vaccines currently mandated in New York City for all public employees. This is, it looks like to me and the lawyers in the Federal cases Kane-Keil, like a conflict of interest. A Motion To Disqualify Judge Caproni was filed, and I just heard that Judge Caproni recused herself (see Recusal of Judge Caproni) from both cases. She had played her part very well, in denying the Preliminary Injunction and TRO against the continued implementation of the VM for all NYC DOE employees in her cases.

When I heard in April about the teachers who were accused of paying for fake vaccination cards, I did not believe it and I started looking into what happened. One of the first allegations I looked for, the proof of fake cards, was nowhere to be found. In fact, the NY POST picture of a card(see above picture) looks exactly like mine. How did the Suffolk County DA determine that the card shown at the top of this post is fake?

I don’t know.

Could the accusations of fraud by the Suffolk County DA have anything to do with playing their role in supporting the Vaccine Mandate against “holistic” medicines? Let’s look at this. We all know, I hope, that medicine, drugs, and treatments are often referred to as Big Pharma.

I believe in alternative medicine, but I also see the value of drugs and standard medical protocols. My first professional writing assignment was on healing and plants, and I am a believer. I also believe in orange juice, vitamin C, essential oils, and peppermint oil when I have a headache. I’m a cancer survivor,had my surgery performed by a brilliant surgeon at Memorial Sloan Kettering, and I am very grateful for his guidance and skills. Does Big Pharma fight against anyone who believes in alternative medicine? Yes. I think we should add this opposition to the argument presented here, as to whether or not any teacher committed fraud.
What’s left in the mix? After multiple conversations with the accused teachers currently on involuntary leave without pay, as well as with the representatives and individuals who may know about an investigation of this matter,  there are no facts available that show fraud on the part of the teachers.
The UFT has filed a UFT Notice of Claim to get the teachers their due process hearings, and has asked Arbitrator Martin Scheinman to do a probable cause hearing (one or more? unknown). I personally do not get it, because Arbitrator Scheinman does not have subject matter jurisdiction to do that, but we will have to see whether he is going ahead anyway.
What is clear is that the Department has claimed that 82 educators have committed a crime, namely fraud, and have blocked access to the facts, if there are any, just like they have done and continue to do when re-assigning an employee to the “rubber room“.
I am still asking: How can you prove that a COVID vaccination card with two separate dates for the vaccination, a CDC # on the card and “Pfizer” and “Lot number”, is false?
This is a blatant example of the department’s pattern and practice to find guilt first, and innocence second.

Please, dear readers, believe in innocence before any judgment.

Betsy Combier

betsy.combier@gmail.com
Editor, ADVOCATZ.com
Editor, ADVOCATZ Blog

Accused NYC teachers deny buying fake COVID vaccine cards

Dozens of New York City teachers are accused of buying fake vaccine cards from a Long Island pediatric center that raked in $1.5 million in the alleged scheme, The Post has learned.

Eighty-two teachers claimed they obtained COVID-19 vaccines at Wild Child Pediatric Healthcare in Amityville (pictured below), which is known for offering holistic and natural remedies.

In a scandal stemming from the vaccine mandates imposed by governments and businesses, the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office alleges that two nurses doled out fake vax cards to hundreds of customers, charging adults $220 for each dose marked on the card ($440 for both) and $85 for kids.

Nurse practitioner Julie DeVuono, who owns and operates the center, is also accused of falsely listing clients as vaccinated in the New York State Immunization Information System, a felony.

Three Queens teachers whose names came up as Wild Child customers spoke to The Post on condition of anonymity. They all denied paying for fraudulent vaccine cards, insisting they got the shots and that their vaccination cards are valid.

The cards list Pfizer lot numbers for each shot purportedly injected.

The educators admit to paying the steep fees, but claim it was for a “detox” treatment to offset any adverse reaction to the vaccine.

“We paid for the detox protocol. We did not pay for the vaccination itself or the card,” said an elementary teacher who works with students with severe disabilities.

“It helped detox my body from all the unnecessary stuff in that shot.”

The teacher said she feared the vaccine’s effect on her health because of an underlying autoimmune disorder.

It’s unclear what the detox consisted of, but teachers said it involved pills.

“She just told me that it would help detox my body and I trusted her,” one said, referring to DeVuono, who has also treated her six-year-old son for years.

Another teacher said of DeVuono, “She tries holistic approaches before giving medications so when my son had an ear infection, she’s like, ‘Okay, it’s not that bad. Let’s try garlic oil first.’”

A third teacher said if other people paid for bogus vaccine cards, that doesn’t mean she did.

“I’m being lumped in with what other people did, having nothing to do with me.”

The teachers have been banned from their schools, saying it hurts students and their families.

The city has required teachers and other city employees to get fully vaccinated to keep their jobs unless granted a medical or religious exemption. Close to 1,000 DOE employees have been fired for failure to comply.

The 82 teachers were suspended without pay on April 25 after the city Department of Education learned they had obtained vaccine cards from Wild Child. Their union, the UFT, filed a notice it intends to sue the DOE on behalf of the members.

Along with DeVuono, 49, Marissa Urraro, 44, a licensed practical nurse, and Brooke Hogan, 30, a receptionist, were charged with taking part in the scam. All have pleaded not guilty.

In a search of DeVuono’s house, cops found $900,000 in cash and a ledger showing more than $1.5 million in receipts from November 2021 through January 2022, the DA said.

DeVuono’s husband Derin, an NYPD officer, was placed on modified duty; he had to surrender his firearm, shield, and ID and take non-enforcement assignments.

According to a criminal complaint, the Suffolk County DA sent undercover detectives to Wild Child, where they paid for a vaccine card without getting the shots.

But it’s unclear how prosecutors can prove other customers did the same.

Suffolk DA spokeswoman Tania Lopez would not answer questions, saying only the investigation is ongoing.

DuVuono’s lawyer, Barry Smolowitz, and Urraro’s lawyer, Michael Alber, declined to comment.

Betsy Combier, a paralegal helping defend the accused teachers, said “No facts available show fraud on their part.”

She blasted the DOE for exiling the educators without a hearing: “This is a blatant example of the department’s pattern and practice to find guilt first, and innocence second.”

The DOE referred questions to the city Law Department. Spokesman Nicholas Paolucci said the city will oppose a “baseless” lawsuit threatened by the UFT.

Those found guilty of vax fraud face serious consequences, state health department officials said.

“The New York State Department of Health’s Vaccination Complaint Investigations Team continues to work closely with the Suffolk County DA’s Office and other law enforcement to actively investigate and prosecute to the full extent of the law anyone who created, distributed, purchased, or used fraudulent proof of Covid-19 vaccination from Wild Child Pediatrics,” said department spokesman Jeffrey Hammond.

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