The federal government’s vaccination mandate for employees with more than 100 workers remains on hold after a federal appeals court rejected the Biden administration’s push to withdraw a stay on the regulation.
The ruling was handed down by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on Friday. The case stems from a challenge to the mandate that was issued by the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration earlier this month.
Companies with more than 100 employees must require COVID-19 vaccinations for their workers or do regular testing by Jan. 4 under the regulation. The emergency temporary standard is designed to protect more than 84 million U.S. workers, according to the administration.
In the ruling, Judge Kurt Engelhardt said the regulation “grossly exceeds OSHA’s statutory authority.”
“The mandate is a one-size-fits-all sledgehammer that makes hardly any attempt to account for differences in workplaces (and workers),” Engelhardt wrote.
The Biden administration plans to continue to defend the mandate during this legal battle, according to Justice Department spokeswoman Dena Iverson.
“Today’s decision is just the beginning of the process for review of this important OSHA standard,” Iverson said in a statement. “The department will continue to vigorously defend the standard and looks forward to obtaining a definitive resolution following consolidation of all of the pending cases for further review.”
Ten states have also sued the Biden administration and several public health agencies over the healthcare worker COVID-19 vaccination mandate, which was issued the same day as OSHA’s regulation.
