Analysis of the Six Preliminary Injunctions Granted in Legal Challenges to COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates for Federal Contractors
Publication: Journal of Legal Affairs and Dispute Resolution in Engineering and Construction
Volume 15, Issue 2
Abstract
In September 2021, the Biden administration issued an executive order requiring companies that enter into federal contracts to require and verify that their employees are vaccinated against COVID-19. The executive order has since been challenged in multiple federal district courts. As of the date of submission, six preliminary injunctions have been issued, temporarily ceasing enforcement of the order. This paper is an analysis and summary of the arguments presented and legal reasoning of the courts based on the published court opinions. The key issue common among all six cases was whether the executive order exceeded the scope of authority granted under the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act. The courts reached slightly different conclusions on this issue and had different reasoning, but all issued temporary injunctions. Although most of the injunctions were limited to the plaintiff states, the most notable preliminary injunction was issued by the Southern District of Georgia and was the only one to be issued nationwide. The inclusion of the Associated Builders and Contractors as a plaintiff in that case played a key role in the scope of the injunction being issued on a nationwide scale. Appeals are pending in all cases but given the broad scope of the mandate and the current status of the pandemic, the government faces a difficult appeal.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Data Availability Statement
No data, models, or code were generated or used during the study.
References
List of Cases
Brnovich et al. v. Biden et al., CV-21-01568-PHX-MTL (2022).
Commonwealth of Kentucky et al. v. Biden et al., 3:21-cv-00055-GFVT (2021).
State of Florida v. Nelson et al., 8:21-cv-2524-SDM-TGW (2021).
State of Georgia et al. v. Biden et al., 1:21-cv-163 (2021).
State of Louisiana et al. v. Biden et al., 21-cv-3867 (2021).
State of Missouri et al. v. Biden et al., 4:21 CV 1300 (2021).
List of Statutes
Federal Property and Administrative Services Act, 40 U.S.C. 101, et seq. (2011).
Works Cited
Biden, J. 2021a. “Executive order on ensuring adequate COVID safety protocols for federal contractors.” Accessed May 19, 2022. https://whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/09/09/executive-order-on-ensuring-adequate-covid-safety-protocols-for-federal-contractors/.
Biden, J. 2021b. “Executive order on protecting the federal workforce and requiring mask-wearing.” Accessed May 19, 2022. https://whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential/actions/2021/01/20/executive-order-protecting-the-federal-workforce-and-requiring-mask-wearing/.
Safer Federal Worker Task Force. 2021. “COVID-19 workplace safety: Guidance for federal contractors and subcontractors.” Accessed May 19, 2022. https://www.saferfederalworkforce.gov/downloads/Guidance%20for%20Federal%20Contractors_Safer%20Federal%20Workforce%20Task%20Force_20211110.pdf.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
© 2023 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jul 13, 2022
Accepted: Nov 17, 2022
Published online: Jan 2, 2023
Published in print: May 1, 2023
Discussion open until: Jun 2, 2023
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.