CHICAGO (NewsNation Now) — The Occupational Safety and Health Administration charged with implementing President Biden’s vaccine mandate for large businesses is putting those plans on hold. OSHA says it’s suspending its implementation and enforcement of the mandate due to a series of lawsuits and a court order last week.
The ruling by the court ordered that OSHA can take no steps to implement or enforce what is known as an emergency temporary standard “until further court order.”
Supermarket owner Brandon Trosclair, one of the business owners suing the government, says this is a win for small business owners and American workers.
“It’s a relief,” Trosclair said on “The Donlon Report. “It’s a relief that we don’t have to worry about [the mandate]. “As of right now, [we don’t have to worry about] these excessive fines, we don’t have to worry about putting in policies and procedures to abide by this mandate.”
Earlier this month, OSHA issued a rule requiring U.S. employers with 100 or more workers to ensure their workers are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergoing weekly tests for the virus by Jan 4. Businesses that don’t comply face thousands of dollars in fines.
Trosclair employs nearly 500 people across 15 grocery stores in Louisiana and Mississippi. He said the reason why he decided to file a lawsuit against the mandate is because he was afraid of losing employees.
“The federal government put me in the position to where I would have to terminate someone if they didn’t want to take this vaccine.”
He believes that people should be able to make their own health care decisions.
“That’s their personal medical choice,” Trosclair said. “That’s not any of my business as their employer, and certainly not in the business of the federal government, as well.”
Trosclair and a group of remote workers from Texas are being represented by the Liberty Justice Center and the Pelican Institute for Public Policy in their lawsuit, BTS Holdings, LLC v. OSHA.
Challenges to President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for private employers will be consolidated in the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, a panel dominated by judges appointed by Republicans.
In all, 34 objections have been filed in all 11 regional circuits plus the one for the District of Columbia.
Trosclair said he believes that the Biden administration will keep pushing for the mandate, but they will eventually give up their case.
“I think it will be appealed and I think will ultimately end up at the Supreme Court. But, you know, I don’t think the Biden administration or the liberal agenda is going to give up that quick.”
The Biden administration has insisted it’s on strong legal footing. It also has the backing of the American Medical Association, which filed papers in support of the mandate.
