The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals’ stay of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s vaccine mandate is expected to remain in place until at least Dec. 10, based on a court order filed right before Thanksgiving. OSHA’s vaccine mandate, if allowed to become effective, would require employers with 100 or more employees to be vaccinated or tested weekly for COVID-19.
The Fifth Circuit had ordered OSHA to “take no steps to implement or enforce the [vaccine] Mandate until further court order.” In response, OSHA stated that it had “suspended activities related to the implementation and enforcement of the ETS pending future developments in the litigation.”
After the Fifth Circuit issued its order, the several challenges to the vaccine mandate by governors and private entities were consolidated in the Sixth Circuit. That court asked for briefing in the case by Dec. 10. Any action by the Sixth Circuit likely will result in an appeal to the Supreme Court.
