US Supreme Court Order Concerning COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement

The United States Supreme Court this afternoon issued an order concerning the federal government’s enforcement of the large-employer COVID vaccine or testing mandate. SCAC previously notified counties that on September 9, 2021, the Biden Administration issued an executive order requiring all employers with 100 or more employees to require either that their employees receive a COVID vaccine or were tested weekly. Government entities, including counties, were not exempted from that order. A separate part of the order also required health care facilities receiving federal funds to implement the vaccine or testing requirement. Numerous employers and States filed suit arguing that federal law did not give the Administration the authority to enact such a broad mandate. The parties in their filing asked the Court for an injunction staying enforcement of the mandate while the case was pending.

The Court in a 6 to 3 decision held this afternoon that the Plaintiffs were likely to prevail on the merits of the case, and therefore granted the motion to stay enforcement of the large-employer portion of the mandate. The Court did allow the portion of the mandate affecting health care facilities to continue. The result of this order is that large employers, including counties, do not have to implement either a COVID vaccine requirement or weekly testing of employees.

SCAC will continue to update counties on the progress of this litigation and related federal orders. View the Court's order.