More on Biden’s Vaccine Mandate: Lawsuits, the five best things I read, and a Friday Zoom at Noon EDT

I won’t bury the lede based on the number of questions and comments I received following Friday’s post.

I’ve assembled a panel of five employment attorneys to address everything relating to President Biden’s new vaccination/testing mandate. Join me, Amy Epstein Gluck, David Renner, Sid Steinberg, and Gordon Berger on Friday, September 17, 2021, at Noon EDT on Zoom for “Mandatory Vaccinations At Work Just Got Real!” 

You can register for the event here and submit your questions to me in advance here.

One of the questions we’ll begin to address is whether President Biden’s plan to require all businesses with 100+ employees to require COVID-19 vaccinations or weekly testing is even legal.

I don’t want to spoil Friday’s surprise. Still, I can tell you that Law360’s Melissa Angell reports here that at least six states (Arizona, Georgia, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming) are planning to file lawsuits.

(Meanwhile, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis told reporters that he would involve the state legislature to combat any federal mandatory vaccine rule that may impact local employers).

In 2016, Nevada and 20 other states sued the U.S. Department of Labor in Texas when it attempted to implement new wage and hour overtime rules. In case a federal judge issued a nationwide injunction to block the new U.S. Department of Labor rules. So, no employer had to comply.

Last year, a New York federal judge sided with the State of New York, which had sued the DOL in federal court to challenge the DOL’s interpretation of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act because it “unlawfully narrows workers’ eligibility for emergency family leave and paid sick leave guaranteed by the [FFCRA].” But that ruling only impacted NY employers.

So, it is possible that any legal challenge, even if successful, may not impact employers nationwide.

But, that brings us back to the key question of whether the Biden mandate is legal. And that will serve as a natural segue into a list of the five best things I read since Friday following the announcement:

• “Are Biden’s new vaccine requirements legal?” from Ian Millhiser at Vox
• “Here is why the vaccination ETS that Biden has directed OSHA to issue is likely illegal” from Jon Hyman at Coronavirus Law Blog
• “Federal Vaccine Testing Mandate for Large Employers is not Workable” from Russell Cawyer at Texas Employment Law Update
• “A Few More Answers from OSHA on the Impending Vaccination ETS…” from Fiona Ong at Labor & Employment Report
• “The vaccine mandate may not apply to your Uber driver or Big Mac server” from Chris Isidore at CNN Business

I’ll continue to keep you updated this week, leading up to “Mandatory Vaccinations At Work Just Got Real!” on Friday, September 17, 2021, at Noon EDT on Zoom. 

You can register for the event here and submit your questions to me in advance here.