JEFFERSON CITY, MO. – Attorneys general in 11 states filed a lawsuit against the administration of US President Joe Biden on Friday, challenging a new vaccine requirement for workers at companies with more than 100 employees.
The lawsuit filed with the St. Louis-based U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals argues that the power to impose vaccinations rests with the states, not the federal government.
“This mandate is unconstitutional, illegal and reckless,” said Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, one of several Republicans vying for the open seat of the United States Senate next year.
New regulations from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration require companies with more than 100 employees to require their workers to be vaccinated for COVID-19 or be tested for the virus weekly and wear masks at work. The requirement is to start on January 4th. Failure to comply could result in penalties of up to US $ 14,000 per violation.
Schmitt said Missouri has 3,443 private employers who could be covered by the vaccine requirement, with nearly 1.3 million employees.
He said he sued “to protect personal freedoms, preserve Missouri businesses and fend off bureaucratic tyrants who just want power and control.”
The Biden administration has encouraged widespread immunizations as the fastest way out of the pandemic. A White House spokeswoman said on Thursday the mandate was to stop the spread of a disease that has killed more than 750,000 in the United States
The top legal official at the U.S. Department of Labor, which includes OSHA, said legal precedent allows it to make rules that keep workplaces safe and those rules take precedence over state laws.
Missouri was joined in the lawsuit by Republican Attorneys General for Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming . The office of Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, a Democrat, also joined the lawsuit, along with several private, nonprofit and religious employers.
The Daily Wire, a conservative media company, filed a challenge in federal court on Thursday. The same goes for companies in Michigan and Ohio represented by a conservative law firm, as well as two Wisconsin manufacturers represented by a conservative law firm.
“Travel aficionado. Twitter scholar. Writer. Extreme coffee guru. Evil pop culture fanatic.”