In a major blow to the Biden administration, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) on Tuesday suspended<\/a> implementation and enforcement of its Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) on mandatory COVID vaccination and testing in the workplace.<\/p>\n Under the ETS, employers with more than 100 employees were given until Jan. 4<\/a> to comply with President Biden\u2019s COVID vaccine mandate<\/a>.<\/p>\n However, a Nov. 12 ruling by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals barred<\/a> OSHA from enforcing the ETS \u201cpending adequate judicial review\u201d of a motion for permanent injunction.<\/p>\n OSHA\u2019s latest action does not affect<\/a> a separate directive<\/a> from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services requiring employees of medical facilities to be vaccinated by Dec. 6.<\/p>\n In a statement<\/a> Tuesday, OSHA said:<\/p>\n \u201cThe court ordered that OSHA take no steps to implement or enforce the ETS until further court order. While OSHA remains confident in its authority to protect workers in emergencies, OSHA has suspended activities related to the implementation and enforcement of the ETS pending future developments in the litigation.\u201d<\/p>\n In its Nov. 12 22-page ruling<\/a>, the court called the Biden administration\u2019s mandate \u201cfatally flawed\u201d and said OSHA should \u201ctake no steps to implement or enforce the mandate until further court order.\u201d<\/p>\n The court said the mandate fails to consider that the ongoing threat of COVID<\/a> is more dangerous to some employees than others.<\/p>\n According to the ruling:<\/p>\n \u201cThe mandate is a one-size-fits-all sledgehammer that makes hardly any attempt to account for differences in workplaces (and workers) that have more than a little bearing on workers\u2019 varying degrees of susceptibility to the supposedly \u2018grave danger\u2019 the mandate purports to address.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis court order must be obeyed, and OSHA has apparently indicated it will,\u201d said Ray Flores, Children\u2019s Health Defense<\/a> legal counsel. \u201cHowever, I have not seen this news trickle down to employers, who to my knowledge have not issued widespread pauses on company mandates.\u201d<\/p>\n No mainstream media outlets were reporting OSHA\u2019s news about the suspension at the time this article was published.<\/p>\n The case against the Biden administration<\/a> was brought by a variety of entities, ranging from state attorneys general (including Texas, Mississippi and Utah), American Family Association and multiple businesses and individuals.<\/p>\n As The Defender reported<\/a> Tuesday, there are dozens of lawsuits making their way through the courts challenging the mandates on behalf of teachers, healthcare workers, police, firefighters and more.<\/p>\n Great piece on the many federal, state and local legal challenges to vaccine mandateshttps:\/\/t.co\/4fFdi9gYpK<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) November 17, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n