The Supreme Court temporarily suspended the Biden administration’s vaccine-or-test mandate for large employers on Thursday, but allowed the administration’s vaccine mandate for health-care workers at facilities that receive federal funding to go into effect.
In the first case, the conservative majority on the bench ruled to block President Biden’s vaccine requirement for private businesses pending further review by the court. Biden had argued that the order derived authority from the 1971 Occupational Safety and Health Act empowering the federal government to regulate workplace health and safety standards.
However, the case’s per curium, representing the decision of the court, argued that it the mandate exceeded its statutory authority and raised separation of powers concerns “in the absence of clear delegation from Congress.” It was inappropriate for the Biden administration to invoke the Emergency Temporary Standard provision of the law since it applies to very “narrow circumstances,” the court said.
Specifically, the Labor Secretary must demonstrate that “employees are exposed to grave danger from exposure to substances or agents determined to be toxic or physically harmful or from new hazards” and that the “emergency standard is necessary to protect employees from such danger.” The court said the risk posed by Covid in the workplace failed to meet these prongs.
Moreover, the court declared that the OSHA mandate was far too much of a broad blanket edict that treats all commercial sectors the same. While the order includes narrow exceptions for remote workers or those who work exclusively outdoors, “the regulation otherwise operates as a blunt instrument,” the court said. “It draws no distinctions based on industry or risk of exposure to COVID–19.”
While the court acknowledged the testing exemption for employees who choose not to get vaccinated, it noted that employers are not required to offer this option, leaving some employees in the vulnerable position of getting fired with no recourse.
Source: National Review
