(The Center Square) – Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry is challenging the legality of a new federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) rule tied to President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate on private businesses.
Landry joined attorneys general from Texas, Mississippi, South Carolina and Utah on Friday in suing the administration. The lawsuit was filed directly with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans.
“I trust our Petition for Review will be granted by the Fifth Circuit, and I look forward to showing them the many statutory and constitutional reasons why the Court must halt implementation of the OSHA rule,” Landry said in a statement.
The legal challenge came a day after Landry sued the Biden administration on behalf of federal contractors. That lawsuit also is a multistate effort involving Mississippi and Indiana, though the case is led by Landry’s office.
“As the chief legal officer of Louisiana, I’m taking action to prevent the government from making your health care choices,” Landry said Thursday evening.
The mandate applies to businesses with 100 or more employees and is expected to affect an estimated 84 million workers.
“While I would have much preferred that requirements not become necessary, too many people remain unvaccinated for us to get out of this pandemic for good,” Biden said.
According to an interim rule filed with the Federal Register, affected businesses must require employees to be fully vaccinated by Jan. 4 or impose mandatory mask rules and weekly COVID-19 tests for all unvaccinated employees.
The OSHA will enforce the mandate, which also requires private employers to keep records on employee vaccination statuses and comply with OSHA spot-checks. The interim rule said the agency will rely largely on complaints to initiate enforcement activities.
Mandate violations could result in fines of nearly $14,000 per employee. Businesses that are in “willful violation” of the requirements could face fines up to $136,000.
Friday’s lawsuit included several large businesses along with the five state plaintiffs. The list of named defendants includes the U.S. Department of Labor, OSHA and their respective agency heads.
In a Thursday evening video statement, Landry said the private sector vaccine requirement is an attempt to “bully” Louisiana into complying with an “unlawful mandate.” He also said it will cost Louisiana billions of dollars.
“You see, Louisiana receives a large amount of federal funds – about 60% of our state budget is federal money. It affects our local governments and institutions of higher learning as well,” he said.
Both lawsuits raise issues about federalism and government overreach, and the federal contractor complaint claims the scope of the mandate is “as broad as possible.”
“Thus, the guidance ensures that the contractor vaccine mandate applies to all employees of a contractor or subcontractor who is party to a federal contract – even if the employee’s work is completely unrelated to the contract or if the employee will never work in a location with a co-worker who is working on a federal contract,” the lawsuit reads.
In his statement, Landry was careful to explain he is not questioning the pandemic’s impact on Louisiana, saying, “Many have been ill, some even hospitalized, others have lost loved ones.
“It is imperative to never lose sight of our individual rights,” he said.
The tension between rights and safety has been at the core of the vaccination debate, especially in Louisiana.
The state has maintained one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country. According to the Mayo Clinic, Louisiana ranks 44th out of 50 states with a 47.8% of eligible residents vaccinated.
Still, Landry said “medical decisions should be made between patients and doctors, not mandated by the government.”
