Georgia Judge Issues Nationwide Injunction Halting Implementation of Federal Contractor Vaccine Mandate

Vincent Jackson
Vincent Jackson
12/08/2021
On December 7, 2021, a federal judge in Georgia issued a nationwide injunction blocking the implementation of the federal contractor vaccine mandate.  The halting of Executive Order 14042, which requires all contractors and subcontractors performing work on certain federal contracts to ensure that their employees are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, presents yet another twist in the legal fights over the vaccine mandate. While previous...
read more

Missouri Court is First To Block Healthcare Worker Vaccine Mandate Rule

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
11/30/2021
A federal court in Missouri has issued a preliminary injunction in a case brought by 10 states (Missouri, Nebraska, Arkansas, Kansas, Iowa, Wyoming, Alaska, South Dakota, North Dakota and New Hampshire) challenging the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ interim rule issued on November 5, 2021.  The CMS rule requires certain healthcare workers at providers that participate in Medicare and Medicaid to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19,...
read more

What to Do When OSHA Comes Knocking

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
11/28/2021
In the effort to avoid writing yet another blog entry on COVID-19 related material, I am writing to inform our readers what they should do if an investigator from  the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) appears on at a jobsite. As you likely know, OSHA recently released a rule mandating that employers of 100 or more employees require all employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or subject to weekly testing.  We blogged about...
read more

OSHA Emergency Temporary Standard and Bargaining Obligation

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
11/11/2021
On November 4, 2021, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) released its COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS).  Our summary of the ETS is available here.  On November 6, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals stayed the ETS pending further action.  Other challenges to the law have been filed in other federal appellate courts and other suits -- those saying that the ETS does not do enough --...
read more

Employee’s Pandemic-Related FMLA Claims Survive Dismissal

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
11/11/2021
At the risk of stating the obvious, employees and employers alike have faced challenges throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.  Many have approached these challenges with an open-mind, flexibility, compassion.  A recent decision from a federal court in Virginia provides a useful reminder of these principles in the context of a worker’s claim that his former employer interfered with his rights under the Family and Medical Leave Act...
read more

Service Animals In The COVID-Era Workplace

There are endless articles and blog posts about COVID and the workplace, whether managing remote workers, implementing a safe return to work, vaccination mandates, testing procedures, masking, reasonable accommodation requests on all of these issues, and all of the related issues that have been on the forefront for the past nineteen (!!) months.  One topic, however, that has not received as much press, at least per my internet searches, is handling...
read more

OSHA’s NEW COVID-19 VACCINE/TEST MANDATE- ZOOM WEBINAR

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
11/05/2021
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9: 12:00 PM TO 1:00 PM Join Kollman & Saucier attorneys, Garret Wozniak and Bernadette Hunton, for a discussion about OSHA’s new emergency COVID-19 vaccine/test rule for employers with 100 or more employees.  We know employers have many questions such as: What does the ETS require? What must employers do to prepare? What information do we need to get from employees? Which employers are covered? Do I have to pay for time...
read more

OSHA's Rule Mandating Vaccination Against COVID-19 Goes Into Effect Friday, November 5, 2021

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
11/04/2021
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has mandated, for the first time ever, a vaccination in the workplace.  For any employer with 100 or more employees company-wide, all employees must be vaccinated against COVID-19 or subject to weekly testing.  For any state that has its own work safety agency, they will have thirty (30) days to implement the federal OSHA standard or their own mandate that is at least as protective as...
read more

EEOC Updates Guidance On Religious Exemptions From Employer Vaccine Requirements

Clifford Geiger
Clifford Geiger
10/28/2021
On October 25, 2021,the EEOC updated its guidance on What You Should Know About COVID-19 and the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and Other EEO Laws.  The EEOC added six new Q&As addressing Title VII religious objections to COVID-19 vaccine mandates.  Generally, job applicants and employees may request an exception, called a religious or reasonable accommodation, from an employer requirement that conflicts with their sincerely held...
read more

No Negligence in Maskless Temperature Check

Darrell VanDeusen
Darrell VanDeusen
10/21/2021
Not a day goes by for me without inquiries from clients about dealing with vaccine mandates, employee exemptions, government executive orders, testing protocols, and discipline for those employees who fail to follow the rules.   I feel a bit like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day.  Nearly all of these questions focus on the hypothetical employee who has refused to get vaccinated “just because” and the employer’s response to that...
read more
Email Updates

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Loading