SUPREME COURT STOPS OSHA'S VACCINE MANDATE ENFORCEMENT
JANUARY 14, 2022
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US Supreme Court Stops Enforcement of OSHA's Vaccine Mandate
Yesterday, in a 6 to 3 Decision, the US Supreme Court stopped the Occupational Safety And Health Administration (“OSHA”) from enforcing its Emergency Temporary Standard (“ETS”) for Covid-19 Vaccination, Testing, and Masking for employers with 100 or more employees. In a separate 5-4 Decision, the Supreme Court allowed the Secretary of Health and Human Services to enforce a Covid-19 Vaccination requirement (unless religious or medical exemptions are granted) for facilities that receive Medicare and Medicaid funding.
Both cases turned on whether the Plaintiffs were likely to succeed on the merits. Unlike state governments, the federal government has limited powers, and within those limits, a federal agency must receive specific delegatable powers from Congress.
In the OSHA Vaccine Mandate case, the Supreme Court found that the Plaintiffs were likely to succeed on the merits of their claim that the OSHA lacked authority to impose the mandate. Administrative agencies are creatures of statute, and they possess only the authority that Congress has provided. “The [OSH] Act empowers the Secretary to set workplace safety standards, not broad public health measures.” “Confirming the point, the Act’s provisions typically speak to hazards that employees face at work.” Although COVID– 19 is a risk that occurs in many workplaces, it is not an occupational hazard because it is a hazard of daily life which spreads at home, schools, sporting events, and everywhere else that people gather. Allowing OSHA to regulate the hazards of daily life, would significantly expand OSHA’s regulatory authority without clear congressional authorization. The Court went on to say that this does not mean that OSHA lacks authority to regulate occupation-specific risks related to COVID–19 where the virus poses a special danger because of the particular features of an employee’s job or workplace. “We do not doubt, for example, that OSHA could regulate researchers who work with the COVID–19 virus. So too could OSHA regulate risks associated with working in particularly crowded or cramped environments.” The case can be found here.
Likewise, in the Medicare/Medicaid Vaccine Mandate, the Supreme Court found that the Mandate fell within the authorities that Congress has conferred upon the Secretary of Health because Congress has authorized the Secretary to impose conditions on the receipt of Medicaid and Medicare funds that “the Secretary finds necessary in the interest of the health and safety of individuals who are furnished services.” Accordingly, the Court concluded that a vaccine mandate is “necessary to promote and protect patient health and safety” in the face of the ongoing pandemic.” This case can be found here.
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