On January 13, 2022, the Supreme Court issued a highly anticipated decision blocking OSHA's emergency temporary standard (ETS), which required employers with 100 or more employees to implement a COVID-19 vaccination or weekly testing policy, in addition to other requirements.
Employers were required to comply with most provisions by January 10, 2022; employers had to comply with the testing requirement by February 9, 2022. In a 6-3 decision, the Court blocked the ETS. The Court could theoretically revisit its decision to block the ETS after the Sixth Circuit issues a subsequent decision on the legal challenges to the ETS. However, the basis for the Court’s decision — that the Secretary of Labor lacked authority to issue the vaccine-or-test mandate — is unlikely to change. Therefore, even if the Court has further occasion to consider the legality of the ETS, its decision strongly indicates that it would be unlikely to reach a different outcome.