Supreme Court vacates blocks on COVID-19 vaccine mandates for federal employees, U.S. Air Force

Supreme Court vaccine mandate overview: 

• Who: The U.S. Supreme Court vacated rulings in a pair of COVID-19 vaccine mandate cases.
• Why: The court said that the cases are now moot and the judgments are vacated because the vaccine mandates for federal workers and armed forces members were lifted.
• Where: The Supreme Court is based in Washington, D.C.

The U.S. Supreme Court has vacated three conflicting rulings on COVID-19 vaccine mandates for federal workers.

The court handed down its decision Dec. 11, declaring the rulings were moot because the vaccine mandates are no longer in effect.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson concurred in the Supreme Court COVID-19 case brought by Jason Payne and 17 others, saying the party should establish equitable entitlement. The Payne case involved a vaccine mandate for all executive branch employees.

She dissented in a pair of other cases involving Feds for Medical Freedom and Hunter Doster, saying that equitable entitlement was not established in those cases, according to a case summary. 

Eighteen plaintiffs filed the Doster lawsuit against Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall, saying that the department ordered more than 500,000 service members to get vaccinated for COVID-19.

“Some 10,000 members with a wide array of duties have requested religious exemptions from this mandate,” the lawsuit said. “The Air Force has granted only about 135 of these requests and only to those already planning to leave the service. Yet it has granted thousands of other exemptions for medical reasons (such as a pregnancy or allergy) or administrative reasons (such as a looming retirement).”

Supreme Court COVID-19 cases involved mandates lifted after injunctions

The Feds for Medical Freedom case was also regarding federal workers looking for a Supreme Court vaccine mandate block, which was received. An injunction confirmed by the 5th Circuit blocked that mandate.

“Roughly six weeks after the Fifth Circuit issued its decision, the President revoked the executive order at issue in this case as part of a broader wind-down of COVID-19 emergency policies,” the Supreme Court filing said.

President Joe Biden violated the civil rights, civil liberties, health and wellbeing of federal employees whom he mandated must take the COVID-19 vaccine, a 2022 class action lawsuit alleged. 

Were you ever subject to a federal COVID-19 vaccine mandate? Let us know in the comments.

Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:

• Tyson class action alleges company discriminated, retaliated against worker’s religious exemption for COVID jab
• Villanova class action claims university should have prorated spring 2020 semester tuition due to COVID-19
• Judge denies class certification in Southwest Airlines COVID-19 cancellations case
• Family convicted of conspiring to sell fake COVID cure made with bleach through church