Thirty NYC teachers ousted on suspicion of filing fake COVID-19 vaccine cards must be returned to their jobs, a judge has ruled.

In a ruling signed on Dec. 30, Brooklyn Supreme Court Judge Gina Abadi found the city Department of Education violated the tenured teachers’ due-process rights by putting them in a “reassignment center” — also known as a rubber room — without a hearing. 

“Judge Abadi kicked the DOE to the curb for throwing the educators off payroll and suspending their work for a crime that has not been proven — not then and not now,” said Betsy Combier, a paralegal who worked with attorney Chad LaVeglia on the teachers’ lawsuit. 

The 30 are among 92 DOE teachers and administrators who gave proof of vaccination provided by Wild Child Pediatric Center in Amityville on Long Island to comply with the mayor’s vaccine mandate for all employees.

None have been criminally charged.

Julie DeVuono, a nurse practitioner who owned the clinic, and two co-defendants are accused of raking in $1.5 million by selling fake vaccine cards. An investigation by the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office is ongoing.

The DOE teachers were yanked from classrooms and removed from the payroll in April when the Special Commissioner of Investigation for city schools gave the DOE a list of employees “implicated” in the alleged fraud.

After the 30 teachers filed suit, the DOE agreed to put them back on the payroll in September, but it kept them away from schools and told them to continue reporting remotely, Combier said. 

Abadi ordered the teachers to be returned to their prior jobs. She also directed the DOE to repay the teachers for any lost salary — and not to throw anyone in the rubber room without probable cause.

“The DOE is permanently enjoined from placing tenured petitioners on leave without pay or reassigning them to reassignment centers without first commencing disciplinary procedures” pursuant to state law, Abadi concluded.

Asked whether the city will appeal, a Law Department spokesman said, “We are reviewing this disappointing decision and considering our options.”