On Saturday, the New Orleans based 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals granted a temporary stay against the Biden vaccine mandate for private employers with 100 or more employees. Despite the court’s order, the Biden White House announced it was expects the mandate to move forward and suggested that businesses begin planning for its implementation now. When the Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) was issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), no fewer than 24 states and a number of businesses and industries all filed challenges in federal court. Attorneys at the CFA Legal Symposium held this week in Las Vegas advised that the challenges will be consolidated and then one circuit court will likely be selected at random to hear the initial challenges. We can expect the issue will end up being finally adjudicated by the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS). In the meantime, legal experts – at the CFA symposium and elsewhere – have recommended that businesses start preparing for the mandate to be upheld by the courts. The mandate is scheduled to be in full force as of January 4, 2022.
