Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis promised Thursday that his state would join Georgia, Alabama, and others to bring a lawsuit against the Biden administration's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) employer vaccine mandate.
Announced by President Joe Biden in September and released Thursday - almost two months later - in a nearly 500-page document, the OSHA regulations require employers with 100 or more employees to ensure their employees are either vaccinated against Covid-19 or tested weekly. Additionally, most unvaccinated employees in most situations will be required to wear a mask while on the job (via Florida.gov).
As soon as the unlawful emergency temporary standard (ETS) is published in the Federal Register tomorrow, the lawsuit will be immediately filed with the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
“We started with 15 days to slow the spread and now it’s get jabbed or lose your job,” said Governor Ron DeSantis. “We’re supposed to be a government of laws, not a government of men. This OSHA rule is 500 pages of a government of bureaucracy, a government that is being run by executive edict, not a government bound by constitutional constraints. The State of Florida will immediately challenge the OSHA rule in court because it’s inconsistent with the Constitution and not legally authorized through Congressional statutes. There is no federal police power and the federal government cannot unilaterally impose medical policy under the guise of workplace regulation. Individuals should make informed choices about their own healthcare. It is important to stand up for people’s individual ability to make decisions for themselves. And the practical result is that this is going to exacerbate a lot of the existing problems that we are seeing with the economy."
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis says Florida will fight Biden's unconstitutional OSHA vaccine mandate:
— Scott Morefield (@SKMorefield) November 5, 2021
"We're supposed to be a government of laws, not a government of men, and this is 500 pages of a government of a bureaucracy, a government that is being run by executive edict." pic.twitter.com/pVcRqgV7of
The press release also included several of the "most atrocious aspects" of the mandate:
On page 4: OSHA shall issue an ETS “if the agency determines that employees are subject to grave danger from exposure to substances or agents determined to be toxic or physically harmful or from new hazards, and an ETS is necessary to protect employees from such danger.”
If this was such a “grave danger,” why did it take 57 days from the announcement by President Biden to publish the rule and why won’t it take effect until January 4 – another 60 days?
On page 5: “The ETS protects these workers through the most effective and efficient control available – vaccination – and further protects workers who remain unvaccinated through required regular testing, use of face coverings, and removal of all infected employees from the workplace.”
A recent study from Sweden published in The Lancet found that within 200 days, mRNA vaccines had no ability to prevent transmission whatsoever.
On page 15: The agency is not required to support its conclusions "with anything approaching scientific certainty" and has the "prerogative to choose between conflicting evidence."
The CDC recently released a review of research studies and its own unpublished data indicating that both infection-induced and vaccine-induced immunity are durable for at least six months. This rule should account for natural immunity.
On page 20: The agency does not believe it appropriate to impose the costs of testing on an employer where an employee has made an individual choice to pursue a less protective option. For the same reasons, OSHA has also determined that it is not appropriate to require employers to pay for face coverings for employees who choose not to be vaccinated.
Employees will have a direct financial penalty for making a medical decision of which they have every right to be in control.
This rule, if allowed to be implemented, will impact nearly 9,000 employers in Florida and the 4.5 million Floridians they employ who make up 60% of our workforce. Nationally, it will cost $2.9 billion. This OSHA rule must be deemed unconstitutional and Florida will be leading the way in taking the Biden Administration to court.
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