A Dizzying Map Of Federal Vaccination Mandates, Injunctions And Stays

Published date29 December 2021
Subject MatterEmployment and HR, Government, Public Sector, Coronavirus (COVID-19), Health & Safety, Government Contracts, Procurement & PPP, Operational Impacts and Strategy
Law FirmHolland & Knight
AuthorMr Nathan Adams IV

Highlights

  • Keeping track of all injunctions and stays by multiple federal district courts and courts of appeal involving three separate federal COVID-19 vaccination mandates with a couple exceptions is no small task.
  • The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and federal contractor mandates are all premised upon different regulatory regimes, but certain judicial doctrines such as the so-called major questions doctrine are at issue in cases addressing all three.
  • This Holland & Knight alert provides a roundup on the latest rulings concerning the federal vaccine mandates, including the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to hold a special hearing on Jan. 7, 2022, to hear argument on the OSHA and CMS mandates.

Keeping track of a dizzying number of injunctions and stays by multiple federal district courts and courts of appeal involving three separate federal COVID-19 vaccination mandates with a couple exceptions is no small task. Some companies are impacted by two or even three mandates. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and federal contractor mandates are all premised upon different regulatory regimes, but certain judicial doctrines such as the so-called major questions doctrine are at issue in cases addressing all three. Companies with operations in multiple states may be subject to one mandate in a state but not another and to inconsistent law relating to mandate exceptions.

OSHA Mandate

The OSHA mandate is once again applicable nationwide, subject only to conflicting state law. On Dec. 17, 2021, a split panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit raised the OSHA mandate from the dead by granting the government's motion to dissolve the stay imposed by the Fifth Circuit. In re: MCP No. 165, Case Nos. 21-7000 (6th Cir. Dec. 17, 2021). Consequently, OSHA has announced revised compliance deadlines. (See previous Holland & Knight alert, "OSHA's Emergency Temporary Standard on COVID-19 Vaccination or Testing Is Back On (for Now)," Dec. 20, 2021.) However, on Dec. 22, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court announced that it will hold a special hearing on Jan. 7, 2022, to consider applications to stay the mandate presented to Justice Brett Kavanaugh. National Fed'n of Indep. Bus. v. Dep't of Labor, Case No. 21A244 (Dec. 22, 2021); Ohio v. Dep't of Labor, Case No. 21A247 (Dec. 22, 2021).

CMS Mandate

The CMS mandate is enjoined in part...

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