U.S. Supreme Court Blocks OSHA Employer Vaccine-or-Test Requirement
The Court found that the states and business organizations challenging the ETS were likely to succeed in demonstrating OSHA exceeded its statutory authority. Notably, the opinion did not discuss whether OSHA met the statutory standard under 29 U. S. C. §655(c)(1) for issuing an emergency temporary standard. Instead, the Court’s ruling centered on the principle that Congress must clearly authorize an agency to act in manners of “vast economic and political significance.” While OSHA has statutory authority to issue safety standards relating to the workplace, the Court found that COVID-19 is not an occupational hazard, noting that the virus is a “universal risk” that is ever present in venues outside of the workplace.