Law firms. Legal Limbo

• Author: Richard Acello
• Pages: 26-27

Business of Law | LAW FIRMS

Michelle Roberts Gonzales suggests

employers prepare for the mandate.

LAW FIRMS

Legal

Limbo

Firms and their clients scramble to

meet the federal vaccine mandate

BY RICHARD ACELLO

The Biden administration’s

workplace vaccine mandate

was scheduled to take effect

Jan. 10. Pursuant to the Occu-

pational Safety and Health Administra-

tion’s Emergency Temporary Standard,

employees at businesses with more than

100 workers must be fully vaccinated or

submit to masking and weekly testing.

But on Nov. 6, the New Orleans-

based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals

granted a temporary restraining order

against President Joe Biden’s vaccine-

or-test mandate. The court ruled “the

petitions give cause to believe there are

grave statutory and constitutional issues

with the mandate.” In December, the 5th

Circuit’s stay was vacated.

Also in December, the U.S. District

Court for the Southern District of Geor-

gia put a vaccination mandate for federal

contractors on hold after nding Biden

exceeded his authority.

The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral

arguments Jan. 7 in two cases challeng-

ing Biden’s vaccine policies. At press

time, the court had not ruled in the cases.

“A lot of employers are in holding

patterns waiting to see what happens,”

says Susan Huntington, who is chair of

Day Pitney’s health care practice and

based in Hartford, Connecticut.

“Nobody knows how long the

[temporary restraining order] will last,”

adds Michelle Roberts Gonzales, a

senior associate in Hogan Lovells’ Los

Angeles ofce. “We have clients in Texas

and Florida concerned about potential

conicts or who are federal contractors,

so we’re telling them to prepare as if

the OSHA regulation is going forward;

that’s the safest course of action.”

The stay has thrown a monkey

wrench into what was already a chaotic

process for some businesses and the law

rms advising them to prepare and com-

ply with the planned onset of the vaccine

mandate. For one thing, many employers

do not routinely keep medical informa-

tion on employees. As such, it’s impera-

tive that they be cognizant of safety and

condentiality issues.

Photo illustration by Sara Wadford; photo courtesy of Hogan Lovells

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