CDC guidelines, company mandates and employee lawsuits are generating a storm of confusion and anger. The expectation that President Biden’s OSHA policies would mandate masks in the workplace suddenly lost momentum when the CDC suggested vaccinated employees did not need to wear masks (with a few exceptions). Meanwhile, employers have thus far been allowed to mandate or incentivize employees to receive the Covid vaccination, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). OSHA has finally issued an Covid-19 Emergency Temporary Standard for healthcare and healthcare support services.
Employees at a Texas hospital are pushing back, filing suit to block their employer’s vaccination mandate. The hospital claims that 99% of its 30,000 employees have received the vaccination. While the attorney for the plaintiffs claims the mandate violates the Nuremberg Code of 1947, EEOC guidelines state EEOC laws “do not prevent an employer from requiring all employees physically entering the workplace to be vaccinated for COVID-19, so long as employers comply with the reasonable accommodation provisions of the ADA and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and other EEO considerations.” A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit, but an appeal has been filed.
Other employers are finding that rather than facing a lawsuit, their employees are deciding to just leave their job instead. Nursing homes, pediatric clinics and other healthcare facilities are facing staffing shortages as worker concern about the safety of vaccines that have received only emergency approval are willing to give up their job to avoid the jab. Whether or not vaccine concerns will lessen as full FDA approval arrives remains to be seen.
