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Category: Vaccination Issues

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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There is more to the Supreme Court’s Decision Not to Hear Maine’s Heathcare Worker’s Vaccine Mandate than the Headline

There is more to the Supreme Court’s Decision Not to Hear Maine’s Heathcare Worker’s Vaccine Mandate than the Headline

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On Friday it was widely reported that the Supreme Court decided not to take up an emergency application for a stay of Maine’s vaccine mandate for healthcare workers, which mandate had a medical but not a religious exemption/accommodation. But, there was actually more going on at the Supremes than the headline indicated, and it is very welcome news for those who believe there is a constitutional right to a religious exemption to a vaccine mandate. The result of course was…

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Breaking News on the Second Circuit’s Review of the NY Department of Health Vaccine Mandate and MORE BREAKING NEWS FROM THE SUPREME COURT

Breaking News on the Second Circuit’s Review of the NY Department of Health Vaccine Mandate and MORE BREAKING NEWS FROM THE SUPREME COURT

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As expected, the the Second Circuit has just issued an order reversing the Northern District of New York’s preliminary injunction barring New York from enforcing its COVID vaccine mandate for New York State health care practitioners. It also affirmed the Brooklyn district court’s denial of the preliminary injunction against the same law filed by We the Patriots. All we have so far is the order which says that a decision will be issued “expeditiously.” Here is the order FWIW. 2nd…

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My Prediction about the The Second Circuit’s Oral Argument on the NY Department of Health COVID Vaccine Mandate on Health Care Workers Case

My Prediction about the The Second Circuit’s Oral Argument on the NY Department of Health COVID Vaccine Mandate on Health Care Workers Case

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My prediction: 3-0 vote to overturn the Northern District’s preliminary injunction order and affirm the Brooklyn District Court’s denial of a preliminary injunction The scariest moment for Judge Debra Livingston (and maybe the rest of the panel): She asked the We the Patriots Attorney if they ruled that the DOH order violated the free exercise clause because it didn’t allow for a full-on religious exemption, would that mean that all mandatory vaccines which didn’t have a religious exemption would be…

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Do Employees Have a Right to a Religious Exemption from the COVID Vaccine Mandate?

Do Employees Have a Right to a Religious Exemption from the COVID Vaccine Mandate?

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Hell if I know, but I think we all might find out soon. Later today, October 27th, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals will decide whether the New York state emergency order which mandated the COVID shot for all state health care workers will go into effect, or whether it will continued to be stayed pending the trial of permanent injunction case. You will recall that a Northern District federal judge granted a TRO and then a preliminary injunction barring…

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Northern District of New York Grants a Preliminary Injunction Against the NY State Emergency Mandatory COVID Vaccination Order with Did Not Contain a Religious Exemption/Accommodation

Northern District of New York Grants a Preliminary Injunction Against the NY State Emergency Mandatory COVID Vaccination Order with Did Not Contain a Religious Exemption/Accommodation

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Previously, a Northern Disrict of New York federal district judge issued a TRO against New York State from enforcing its COVID vaccine mandate for all New York state health care workers. The original emergency order issued by the Health Commission had the religious exemption in it, in addition to the medical exemption. But the subsequent order issued by the health department removed the religious exemption. The failure to provide a religious exemption was the basis of the injunction lawsuit. The…

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