Five Impacts of Judge Upholding Mandatory-Vaccine Policies

WASHINGTON - June 14, 2021 - PRLog -- Saturday's ruling that a hospital's policy of requiring all of its employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 is legal, and advances an important public policy, is bound to have major impacts in areas far beyond hospitals and other health care providers, says public interest law professor John Banzhaf, who correctly predicted this result.

FIRST, it provides a strong precedent for other existing and yet-to-be-filed law suits, and proceeding before anti-discrimination agencies, because it was a well reasoned opinion written by a federal (rather than a state) court judge, it reached the same conclusion for the same reasons as many impartial law professors and other legal experts, and is based upon the employment law [so-called "employment at will"] controlling in most states for all employers, not just hospitals.

SECOND, the decision will provide increased legal justification for companies which are taking somewhat less intrusive measures to deal with unvaccinated employees - e.g., requiring them to disclose this status, to wear masks while in the office or on the job, etc. - as an increasing number of employees are, according to the Wall Street Journal's "Companies Push Employees to Prove They Are Vaccinated."

THIRD, it will provide support for and embolden colleges and universities to require that students, in addition to faculty and staff, receive vaccinations before returning to classrooms and dormitories in the fall.

FOURTH, it provides additional support for the legality of measures increasingly being adopted by some places of public accommodation - such as cruise ships, theaters, sports venues, etc. - to bar or restrict persons who have not been vaccinated.

FIFTH, as more and more companies, as a result of this ruling, require employees to be vaccinated, those which fail to do so may be sued under the doctrine of negligence which requires businesses to take reasonable steps and measures to protect their customers from reasonably foreseeable risks.

This is an important decision with many ramifications which is likely to save many lives, the professor argues.

jbanzhaf3ATgmail.com   @profbanzhaf