A federal appeals court threw out lawsuits aimed at stopping the Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccination-or-test rules for large businesses, Bloomberg Law reported.
The suits were dismissed after the Supreme Court blocked the Occupational Safety and Health administration mandate from taking effect.
AFP noted that after months of public appeals to Americans to get vaccinated against COVID-19, President Joe Biden had announced in September that he was making vaccinations mandatory at companies that have 100 workers or more.
But the high court's six conservative justices ruled the mandate would represent a "significant encroachment into the lives — and health — of a vast number of employees."
"Although Congress has indisputably given OSHA the power to regulate occupational dangers, it has not given that agency the power to regulate public health more broadly," they said.
"Requiring the vaccination of 84 million Americans, selected simply because they work for employers with more than 100 employees, certainly falls in the latter category," they added.
Bloomberg Law noted the measure would have required shots or weekly testing for those working at large companies. OSHA had withdrawn the measure in January after the Supreme Court decision.
The litigation before the appeals court was filed by a coalition of Republican attorneys general, along with businesses and religious organizations.
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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