Courts Put Federal Government Contractor Vaccine Mandate On Hold

Yesterday, December 7, 2021, a federal district court in Georgia issued a nationwide preliminary injunction halting the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate that required federal government contractor and subcontractor employees to be fully vaccinated by January 18, 2021.  That federal court suit, brought by state elected officials in Georgia, Alabama, Kansas, South Carolina, Utah and West Virginia, challenged the Biden administration’s enforcement of Executive Order 14042 (here), which requires that contractors and subcontractors performing work on certain federal government contracts ensure that their employees are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

In his 28-page opinion, Judge R. Stan Baker, of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia, declined to limit application of his preliminary injunction to the states that brought the lawsuit, in part, because a trade association that was permitted to intervene in the suit had members all over the country and because limiting the preliminary injunction to the plaintiff states would, in the court's view, “only cause more confusion.”

The Georgia federal district court’s decision follows on the heels of a decision last week by a federal district court in Kentucky that granted a preliminary injunction, but only in the plaintiff states in that lawsuit - Kentucky, Tennessee and Ohio.

The Biden administration has already appealed the Kentucky federal district court’s decision, and an appeal of the Georgia federal court decision seems likely.

The Amadeo Law Firm will continue to monitor the court proceedings, and federal government contractors and subcontractors should remain alert to any future developments that may impact when or if the preliminary injunctions are lifted.