A lottery held Tuesday by the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation determined that the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit will decide lawsuits challenging the Biden administration’s federal vaccine mandate. First Liberty Institute represents clients challenging the mandate in both the Fifth and Sixth Circuits.
“The Biden administration’s attempt to federalize health care through its vaccine mandate is blatantly unconstitutional and violates the sincerely held religious beliefs of employers like our clients,” said Lea Patterson, Counsel for First Liberty. “As the Biden administration said as recently as July, a national vaccine mandate is not the role of the federal government. The OSHA rule is blatant government overreach. First Liberty Institute remains dedicated to enjoining it permanently.”
First Liberty asked the Sixth Circuit to review the mandate on behalf of Answers in Genesis, a world-class, Christ-centered, family attraction, with physical properties—one a full-scale replica of Noah’s Ark—located in northern Kentucky.
In September, President Biden directed the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) to promulgate a federal “emergency temporary standard” (ETS) requiring all private businesses with 100 or more employees to ensure that every employee is vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus or presents a negative test result on a weekly basis or face potential fines. According to federal law, an ETS can be issued only when doing so is “necessary” to protect employees against “grave danger” from exposure to “substances or agents determined to be toxic or physically harmful or from new hazards.” An ETS is temporary and expires after six months, after which the agency is required to issue a permanent rule that complies with the lengthy regulatory process.
