Business group Job Creators Network challenges Biden's Jan. 4 deadline for worker COVID vaccinations

The Biden administration's announcement Thursday of a Jan. 4, 2022, deadline to employers with 100-plus workers to comply with the president's COVID-19 vaccine mandates was immediately challenged by small business advocacy group Job Creators Network.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration will lead enforcement of the mandate, according to the White House.

Employers with more than 100 workers must ensure all are either fully vaccinated or submit to weekly testing and mask wearing. Fully vaccinated means the employee has received two doses of either the Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech's shot, or one dose of Johnson & Johnson's shot, according to Fox Business.

The business advocacy group is filing a lawsuit Thursday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit against the administration to block the implementation of its vaccine mandate on small businesses. 

"The Biden administration’s vaccine mandate is clearly illegal and will have a devastating impact on our small business community and our entire economy," said group President and CEO Alfredo Ortiz. "The administration’s mandate will exacerbate the worst labor shortage in recorded history by requiring small business owners to terminate some employees who wish not to get vaccinated while also shrinking the pool of job applicants available for hiring."

Ortiz also said his group recently shared such concerns in a meeting with the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs “but our concerns went unheeded.”

Among the plaintiffs begin represented in the suit are:  

• Lawrence Transportation Company  
• Guy Chemical Company 
• The Rabine Group of Companies 
•  Independent Bakers Association  
• Terri Mitchell, a Guy Chemical employee