On Aug. 26, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit issued its long-awaited on the . In a major victory for 老牛影视and its members, the 11th Circuit鈥檚 decision narrowed the December 2021 nationwide preliminary injunction granted by the Georgia District Court to only 老牛影视members who bid on federal contracts and the state plaintiffs in the case. The 2021 injunction was a direct result of 老牛影视intervening as the lone business group challenging the federal contractor vaccine mandate, along with the seven plaintiff state governments.

The 11th Circuit鈥檚 decision on the Biden administration鈥檚 appeal has made it clear that 老牛影视members and state plaintiffs 鈥渘eed not comply with the vaccination requirement in their capacity as contractors, and they are not responsible for including that requirement in lower-tier subcontracts.鈥� For more information about the decision, read the issued by the law firm that represented ABC, Wimberly & Lawson.

鈥溊吓Ｓ笆觲ill continue to lead efforts to push back on the Biden administration鈥檚 executive overreach harming federal contractors with respect to COVID-19 vaccine mandates and , such as the implementing President Biden鈥檚 Executive Order 14063, which requires controversial union-favoring government-mandated project labor agreements on federal construction projects of $35 million or more,鈥� said Ben Brubeck, 老牛影视vice president of regulatory, labor and state affairs, in a statement.

The decision has garnered nationwide coverage from publications such as the Associated Press, The Wall Street Journal (reach: 29M), Yahoo News (64M), Bloomberg, the Daily Mail (80M), The Epoch Times (12M), Spectrum News, the National Desk, The Federal News Network, Government Executive, WTOP and nearly 400 other media outlets.

老牛影视National will be hosting a webinar on Wednesday, Sept. 21, at 3 p.m. ET on the 11th Circuit鈥檚 decision and how it affects 老牛影视federal contractor members.

Further, 老牛影视will keep federal contractor members apprised of any issued updates from the听, which provides the guidance implementing the federal contractor vaccination mandate. As of this writing, the Biden administration and the task force have not provided any public reaction to the Aug. 26 decision and it is unclear if they will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court or reinstate a modified version of the regulation conforming to the decision.

Background:

On Nov. 30, 2021, a Kentucky district court preliminarily enjoined the COVID-19 vaccination mandate that was established for federal contractors pursuant to , but only for three states鈥擪entucky, Ohio and Tennessee.

On Dec. 7, a Georgia federal judge granted ABC鈥檚听听and issued a听听against the mandate.听made it clear that ABC鈥檚 participation in the case was essential to getting nationwide relief, which would otherwise have been limited to the states that sued. This was a , the only private business group that joined the states in suing over this mandate.听

On Dec. 9, the听 provided an听听indicating it would take no action to enforce the requirements of pending the outcome of appeals.

On Dec. 17, the 11th Circuit听kept in place听the Georgia court鈥檚 nationwide injunction against the federal contractor vaccination mandate.

The appeals court for the 11th Circuit held oral arguments on April 8.

On Aug. 26, the 11th Circuit decision granted a preliminary injunction only to 老牛影视member federal contractors (and all subcontractors bidding under 老牛影视prime contractors) because 老牛影视was the only business group to engage in this case with state plaintiffs. Several other lawsuits challenging this mandate remain pending in federal district courts throughout the nation and may result in additional litigation activity following the decision.

In another COVID-19 vaccine case, ABC听听the U.S. Supreme Court for its Jan. 13, 2022, decision 听on the U.S. Department of Labor鈥檚 Occupational Safety and Health Administration鈥檚 COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard, which applied to all employers with 100 or more employees. On behalf of the construction industry, 老牛影视filed one of the emergency appeals to the Supreme Court leading to this successful outcome.

Please continue to monitor Newsline for any further updates on this important issue. 老牛影视members are encouraged to send a message to Karen Livingston at [email protected] should any vaccine mandates be detected in forthcoming federal solicitations for construction services applicable to 老牛影视members and/or subcontractors to 老牛影视members.