Modules 7- 8: Law and Ethics in the Workplace: The Supreme Court and the Biden’s Vaccination Mandate3 partsDue Mon Apr 28, 2025 12:59 am EDT4+ thoughtful posts required for full credit
Overview:
In this assignment, we will discuss two cases focused on Biden’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate during the COVID-19 pandemic where the Supreme Court enforced different COVID-19 vaccination requirements for employees in large businesses and healthcare workers.
National Federation of Business v. OSHA
In the first case available in Part 2, the Supreme Court decided to strike down a Biden administration mandate that large businesses require their employees to either be vaccinated or tested once a week for the coronavirus. In a 6-3 order, the justices blocked an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) emergency rule for businesses with more than 100 employees — one that would have impacted more than 80 million workers.
Biden v. Missouri
In the second case, available in Part 3, the Supreme Court held that the Department of Health and Human Services had the authority to enforce a rule requiring healthcare workers at facilities that participate in the Medicare and Medicaid programs to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 unless they qualify for a medical or religious exemption.
Instructions:
Review and comment on the video and the Supreme Court’s majority decisions for both cases.
As you review the video and the cases, your comments and discussion should focus on the following questions. You should include a comment to respond to each question.
Use the relevant hashtags as suggested to indicate which question you are responding to.
National Federation of Business v. OSHA
- What authority does the Occupational Safety and Health Act provide to the Secretary of Labor to regulate occupational safety and health standards? #
- Has the Secretary of Labor exceeded their authority under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations for employees? Why or why not? #exceedsauthority or #withinauthority
- Do you agree with the court’s majority to strike down the vaccination mandate for large businesses or do you agree with the dissent? Why or why not? #strikelargebusinessmandate #enforcelargebusinesmandate
Biden v. Missouri
- Does the Secretary of Health and Human Services have the authority to implement a COVID-19 vaccination mandate for healthcare workers? Why or why not?
- Bearing in mind that in the National Federation of Businesses v. OSHA, the court struck down the COVID-19 vaccination mandate for large businesses, do you agree that the court should have enforced the COVID-19 vaccination mandate for healthcare workers and treated healthcare workers differently? Why or why not? #overturnhealthcaremandate or #enforcehealthcaremandate
Other Questions
- How do the Supreme Court decisions in the Biden v. Missouri and the National Federation of Business v. OSHA cases differ?
- In general, what are the ethical issues arising as a result of both COVID-19 vaccination mandates?