What you need to know about the ruling halting the federal contractor vaccine mandate in Tennessee, Ohio, and Kentucky

News just came through that a federal judge in Kentucky has issued a preliminary injunction against (that is, temporarily stopped) the Executive Branch enforcing the mandate that federal contractors be fully vaccinated by January 4. This injunction is limited to only federal contractors and subcontractors performing covered contracts in Tennessee, Ohio, and Kentucky.

We’ve written extensively on the mandate already. But this certainly changes things for some. The question is, for how many? Here’s what you need to know.

It would be disingenuous to suggest that we’ve already read and digested every single thing about the judge’s 29-page ruling a few hours after its release. It delves in to the murky waters of executive authority versus what the court called “serious Constitutional concerns.” We’ll leave the analysis of these issues to academics and pundits.

Instead, our review has focused on two salient points: (1) what does the injunction do and (2) who does it impact?

The answer to the first is fairly simple. The injunction stops the administration from taking any effort to enforce the vaccine mandate against contractors in the three states: Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee.

The answer to the second question is a bit more complicated. By its terms, the injunction applies to “federal contractors and subcontractors in all covered contracts in Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee.”

This term, we think, is somewhat ambiguous. Does it apply only to contractors located in one of those three states? Or does it apply only to contracts being performed in one of those states, regardless of where the contractor itself might be located? For us, there’s some uncertainty.

Regardless, the Department of Justice will almost certainly appeal this ruling. And other suits have been filed against the mandate in different courts, which are still pending. So the only certainty from this ruling is that it’s not the last word on the issue.

The federal contractor COVID protocols (including the vaccination mandate) continue to be a somewhat vexing issue. If you have any questions, please give us a call.