The United States Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit issued a ruling Friday upholding President Biden’s vaccine mandate for businesses with over 100 employees. The opinion was written by Justice Jane B. Stranch, an Obama appointee. The ruling eviscerated the stay issued by the 5th Circuit court with the following argument:
“Petitioners’ arguments are primarily grounded in the Fifth Circuit’s blanket conclusion that the ETS is beyond the scope of OSHA’s statutory authority. The ETS was issued under § 655(c)(1) of the Act, which requires OSHA to issue an emergency standard if necessary to protect workers from a ‘grave danger’ presented by ‘exposure to substances or agents determined to be toxic or physically harmful or from new hazards’…In assessing that authority, the Fifth Circuit focused solely on the words…’substances or agents…toxic or physically harmful…grave danger,’ opining that those words are to be interpreted based on the words and phrases in the immediate vicinity of the statutory language at issue…But the Supreme Court has instructed that words and phrases must be viewed in the context of the entire statute…(instructing that, when evaluating a statute, a court ‘must not be guided by a single sentence or member of a sentence, but look to the provisions of the whole law’). We therefore take a holistic view of the language that Congress chose to include in its statutory authorization to OSHA.”
