Conservatives for Abusive Lawsuits

In The News | January 13, 2022

Lawmakers shouldn’t make it easier for employees to sue over vaccine mandates.

Get ready for a surge in Covid-related employment lawsuits, driven in part by conservative state lawmakers who are introducing bills to expand liability against employers that require vaccines.

If these measures pass, employers will face a sued-if-you-do, sued-if-you-don’t situation. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration requires large businesses to mandate employee vaccinations and imposes hefty fines for failure to comply. Even if the Supreme Court strikes down the OSHA rule, employers are at risk for liability claims, particularly when employees work in high-risk environments, unless they adopt adequate safety measures.

These bills would also undermine state workers-compensation systems, the traditional mechanism for compensating employees injured on the job, and conflict with the federal Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act of 2005, which provides immunity to private employers and others that administer vaccination programs.