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Category: Vaccination Issues

This is What I think the Supremes Should Do and Will Do on the Biden OSHA and COVID Mandates

This is What I think the Supremes Should Do and Will Do on the Biden OSHA and COVID Mandates

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In yesterday’s post, I gave a summary of what I thought were some of the best, most interesting, or surprising points made in the oral arguments on the OSHA and CMS mandates. I have thought about it all some more. In my posts, I usually give predictions of how I think a court will rule in a case. Today, I am going to give my personal opinion of what the Supremes should do, and based on the oral arguments, what…

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Some Observations on the Supreme’s Oral Arguments on the Biden COVID Vaccine Mandates

Some Observations on the Supreme’s Oral Arguments on the Biden COVID Vaccine Mandates

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I listened to the oral argument yesterday on the two Biden mandates, and that would be the OSHA mandate for employers with 100 or more employees to mandate the vaccine or testing and masking for those choosing not to vaccinate, and the CMS vaccine mandate covering health care facilities that receive Medicare payments or Medicaid. I found it extremely interesting for many reasons, one of them being it was the first time the Supremes had an oral argument on a…

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Do you want to get some of the basics about vaccine mandate litigation, but rest your eyes? Then listen to my podcast X 2+++++

Do you want to get some of the basics about vaccine mandate litigation, but rest your eyes? Then listen to my podcast X 2+++++

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I have written much about all the vaccine litigation swirling around the courts. One of my recent posts was read by the highly regarded California appellate attorney Tim Kowal. Tim along with another successful appellate attorney, Jeff Lewis host a podcast for California trial and appellate attorneys focusing on substantive issues as well as trial and appellate strategies. Tim invited me onto their podcast to talk about vaccine mandate litigation. He liked the way I organized and categorized these disparate…

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Figuring out employees’ rights in the COVID mandate world, and some moderately helpful government guidance

Figuring out employees’ rights in the COVID mandate world, and some moderately helpful government guidance

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I don’t know about you, but with all the litigation, I have been struggling to figure out what rights employees have if they don’t want to get the COVID shot. As a lawyer and former student of analytic philosophy, I’m big on putting things into categories to help understand complicated and seemingly contradictory data points. Sort of like how TV detectives use a whiteboard with pictures of persons of interest. (A more abstruse allusion for Herman Hesse fans would be…

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Kelly Sutton’s Medical License is Revoked by the Medical Board of California

Kelly Sutton’s Medical License is Revoked by the Medical Board of California

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We got word a few days ago that the Medical Board adopted the Administrative Law Judge’s proposed decision to revoke her medical license for writing 8 medical exemptions that were not compliant with the CDC’s ACIP guidelines. It was a tough but not unexpected decision given the hostility the Board has against doctors who were charged with writing more than a couple of exemptions. Here is the decision. You won’t like it. CCF12152021 I want to share two important behind-the-scenes…

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The Whirlwind of COVID Mandates and Mandate Litigation Continues; Some Things are Becomming Clearer, but the New Variant Might Further Muddy the Waters, and SOME BREAKING NEWS!

The Whirlwind of COVID Mandates and Mandate Litigation Continues; Some Things are Becomming Clearer, but the New Variant Might Further Muddy the Waters, and SOME BREAKING NEWS!

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Unless you’re following this full time and have a spreadsheet, there is so many new mandate orders and resulting litigation, it is hard to keep track of everything that is happening. Up until the new variant, I think we could see some patterns in the decisions. Someone with more technical skills than me might be able to make a matrix of it all, but all I can do is categorize it. I put all these lawsuits into three basic categories:…

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All eyes are now on the Sixth Circuit as it considers whether to lift the Fifth Circuit’s stay of the Biden OSHA COVID mandate

All eyes are now on the Sixth Circuit as it considers whether to lift the Fifth Circuit’s stay of the Biden OSHA COVID mandate

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To recap, the Fifth Circuit recently stayed the implementation of the Biden Administration’s OSHA-created COVID vaccine mandate. I think the Fifth Circuit’s decision is clear, cogent, and powerful. Here it is and it is well worth reading. 5th Stay And let’s face it, there aren’t many opportunities to read appellate court decisions which temporarily stop a vaccine mandate and which agree with what you believe in. One of the most heartening things about the opinion for those opposed to the…

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If You are a Kaiser employee or have a child in the San Diego School District and were hoping for injunctive relief from the COVID Mandate, sorry, it’s not happening

If You are a Kaiser employee or have a child in the San Diego School District and were hoping for injunctive relief from the COVID Mandate, sorry, it’s not happening

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Yesterday, federal courts in the Northern and Southern districts of California denied requests for injunctive relief for Kaiser employees and San Diego school district kids whose parents didn’t want them to take the COVID vaccine. No surprises here. The SD school district case upheld the mandate that prohibits in-person learning or in-person extracurricular activities without complying with the vaccine mandate. Here is the opinion. Thomas More SD TRO Denied. The plaintiffs tried to assert a free exercise clause argument based…

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The OSHA COVID Mandate Overreach (updated)

The OSHA COVID Mandate Overreach (updated)

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I have to say, I didn’t see the OSHA COVID mandate coming. I get Jacobson (and I happen to think that the core legal principle will be upheld), but part of what I take from that case is that it’s the police powers of the states and local governments which are directly responsible for public health. We do live in a federal system where there is an overlap of governmental jurisdictions and powers. However, other than the federal government’s jurisdiction…

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Religious Exemption Guidance from the EEOC

Religious Exemption Guidance from the EEOC

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I receive many requests for consultations to help filling out employer religious exemption requests. For many reasons, not the least of which is my litigation work, I don’t offer that service. However, the EEOC publishes some pretty good information about the religious exemptions requirements (and what it does not require), including some information about how far employers can go in questioning the sincerity of the beliefs, and the whole reasonable accommodation issue. If you haven’t seen it, here it is….

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