Covid Vaccine Mandate -- Legal Consequences

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The October 2021 program will focus on Executive Order 253 signed by Governor Murphy on August 23, 2021.  State workers and school teachers workers are required to have the appropriate COVID vaccination by October 18, 2021, or be subjected to weekly COVID testing where allowable. Private sector workplaces are establishing their own guidelines and policies. 

What legal challenges will ensue? What discipline can employers impose on workers who refuse to comply with vaccine and testing mandates, and are disciplinary procedures negotiable in union and non-union settings? What ADA and NJLAD disability, religious or handicap accommodations must be made for employees relative to mandatory vaccination policies? 

Thus far, courts have been reluctant to overturn vaccine policies over the objections of unvaccinated workers due to longstanding precedent from previous public health crises and the public health goals sought to be achieved by vaccination and testing policies.  Our panelists will discuss the impact of early decisions and how they see the legal issues evolving.

Also, OSHA has announced that it is developing a rule that will require all employers with 100 or more employees to ensure their workforce is fully vaccinated or require any workers who remain unvaccinated to produce a negative test result on at least a weekly basis before coming to work. OSHA will issue an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) to implement this requirement. Our expert panelists will address this controversial measure and explain its application.

Panelists:

• John Sarno (moderator)
• Stephen B. Hunter, Esq., Detzky, Hunter & DeFillippo (public sector)
• Vanessa M. Kelly, Esq., Clark Hill (private sector)
• Kevin Schroth, JD, Associate Professor in the Department of Health Behavior, Society and Policy at the Rutgers School of Public Health

Program Coordinators:

• John Sarno, President, Employers Assoc. of NJ
• Lucille Alfano - Arbitrator/Mediator