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Case Western professor weighs in after Supreme Court blocks vaccine mandate for large businesses

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Posted at 10:40 AM, Jan 14, 2022
and last updated 2022-01-14 10:40:51-05

CLEVELAND — The Supreme Court blocked the Biden Administration from enforcing a vaccine mandate for large businesses, a mandate that would have required all employees at large businesses across the country to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or submit to weekly testing and wear a mask at work.

The mandate was for businesses with at least 100 employees. It would have affected more than 80 million American workers, but the high court’s conservative majority concluded that the Biden administration overstepped its authority with the mandate.

The court’s three liberal justices argued it was the court that was overreaching but substituting its own judgment for that of health experts.

A professor from Case Western Reserve University discussed what the ruling means for employees.

“Employers are still free to have their own vaccine mandate," said Sharona Hoffman, Professor of Law at Case Western Reserve University. "So my employer has had it, you know, since the summer so employers can still do this. They just don't have the backing of saying, well, it's not our choice. The federal government told us to do it. So that's the difference.”

A second Biden Administration mandate, requiring vaccination for most healthcare workers in the country, was allowed to stand.

RELATED: Healthcare leaders worried as Supreme Court upholds vaccine mandate for many healthcare workers

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