Litigation against COVID-19 vaccine mandates leaves employers in limbo

Employers covered by federal agencies’ COVID-19 vaccine mandates face a very confusing situation: Should they continue to force employees to get the shots while a ton of litigation challenging the requirements drags on?

Status of federal contractor directives

On December 2, 2021, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky granted a preliminary injunction halting enforcement of the Biden administration’s federal contractor vaccine mandate in Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee. In response, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and various federal agencies issued updated deviations to pause enforcement of the rules in the three affected states.

On December 7, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia issued a nationwide preliminary injunction against the federal contractor mandate. An initial reading of the opinion raised the question about whether (1) only the vaccine mandate obligations were enjoined or (2) all federal contractor obligations under President Joe Biden’s Executive Order (EO) 14042 were suspended.

On December 9, however, the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force clarified for federal contractors that it was suspending enforcement of all EO 14042 requirements. Newly released guidance in response to the nationwide injunction stated: