National Federation of Independent Business v. Dept. of Labor (formerly In Re OSHA Rule)
Issue: Should the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) be permitted to enforce its emergency temporary standard (ETS) requiring large employers to have their employees either get the COVID-19 vaccine or comply with enhanced safety measures (face coverings and weekly testing), while lawsuits challenging the rule are pending?
Background: In 2021, OSHA, the agency tasked with assuring a safe and healthful workplace, issued an ETS in response to the unprecedented spread of the COVID-19 virus in the workplace. The ETS mandated that businesses with more than 100 employees require their employees to either get vaccinated for COVID-19 or wear masks and test once a week. Shortly after the issuance, private employers, labor unions, state governments, and individual citizens filed multiple lawsuits, challenging OSHA’s authority to issue the ETS. The 5th Circuit issued a stay, barring OSHA from enforcing the ETS. All of the lawsuits challenging the ETS were then consolidated in the 6th Circuit, which subsequently lifted the stay, allowing the ETS to take effect. Finally, the Supreme Court re-issued the stay, prohibiting the ETS from taking effect.
Current Status: Final decision issued
U.S. Supreme Court Amicus Brief, Dec. 30, 2021
Amici: American Public Health Association, Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health, Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy, Alliance of Community Health Plans, American College of Osteopathic Emergency Physicians, American College of Preventative Medicine, Association of American Medical Colleges, College of American Pathologists, Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists, National Hispanic Medical Association, National Medical Association, National Safety Council, Association of Perioperative Registered Nurses, National League for Nursing, and 139 public health and health policy deans and scholars.
Argument Summary: COVID-19 is a particularly severe danger in the workplace, and it poses special risks for workers. Vaccines are the most effective tools for reducing COVID-19 transmission and infection in the workplace. OSHA properly determined that its vaccine-or-test standard is essential to protect workers.
6th Circuit Court of Appeals Amicus Brief, Nov. 30, 2021
Amici: American Public Health Association, Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health, Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy, Alliance of Community Health Plans, American College of Osteopathic Emergency Physicians, American College of Preventative Medicine, Association of American Medical Colleges, College of American Pathologists, Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists, National Hispanic Medical Association, National Medical Association, National Safety Council, Association of Perioperative Registered Nurses, National League for Nursing, and 134 public health and health policy deans and scholars.
Argument Summary: COVID-19 is a particularly severe danger in the workplace, and it poses special risks for workers. Vaccines are the most effective tools for reducing COVID-19 transmission and infection in the workplace. OSHA properly determined that its vaccine-or-test standard is essential to protect workers.
Outside Counsel: Gupta Wessler PLLC, Bloomekatz Law LLC
Related Resources:
GW Media Relations. Public health leaders nationwide defend OSHA’s COVID-19 vaccine rule. Dec. 2, 2021. https://mediarelations.gwu.edu/public-health-leaders-nationwide-defend-oshas-covid-19-vaccine-rule
Rosenbaum S, Jost T, Keith K. Dobbs: the immediate aftermath and the coming legal morass. To the Point (blog). Commonwealth Fund. June 27, 2022. https://doi.org/10.26099/tc5q-jm32