The AFL-CIO is asking the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to review a three-judge panel’s decision rejecting its bid to force OSHA to craft an emergency temporary standard (ETS) for the COVID-19 pandemic, saying the panel judges “wholly failed to consider” several issues in their two-page ruling.
OSHA is ramping up release of several new guidance documents to aid employers in preventing COVID-19 infections as they reopen following states’ relaxation of limits on in-person gatherings and businesses, adding to the agency’s approach of using non-binding guides rather than binding rules to target the virus.
Legal firms are warning California employers that they could be targeted with tort litigation by workers who claim they contracted COVID-19 as a result of a company’s failure to properly carry out Cal/OSHA safety rules for the virus -- a potentially much greater financial risk for firms than an increase in worker compensation claims.
Democrats and pro-regulatory group Public Citizen are opposing Republicans’ push to waive liability for employers whose workers contract COVID-19 on the job, signaling what could be an intense political battle ahead as the Senate GOP has said the waivers will be a top priority for any future COVID-19 relief bill.
Congressional Democrats are backing a federal lawsuit by Amazon employees alleging that the online retailer failed to protect workers at a New York City warehouse from COVID-19 infections, setting up a test of companies’ duty to follow state safety mandates during the pandemic after OSHA declined to issue an emergency standard.
A federal appeals court has rejected trade unions’ bid to force OSHA to craft an emergency temporary standard to protect workers from COVID-19, holding that the agency’s decision to rely on existing rules and guidance deserves “considerable deference” because of the “unprecedented” nature of the current pandemic.
Critics of President Donald Trump’s latest deregulatory executive order (EO) are questioning whether it will drive significant new agency rollbacks without encountering major legal problems, though supporters are highlighting another aspect that imposes a series of principles designed to ensure “fairness” in enforcement actions.
Industry groups are clashing with labor and health organizations over how Cal/OSHA should revise its proposed permanent rules for protecting outdoor workers from wildfire smoke, with both sides citing the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in their calls to either relax or tighten certain provisions of the regulations.
The AFL-CIO is defending its suit aiming to force OSHA to craft an emergency temporary standard (ETS) for protecting workers from COVID-19 infection, arguing that the agency’s preferred strategy that combines non-binding guidance with pre-existing authorities like the general duty clause “stands the OSH Act on its head."
OSHA and industry groups are urging federal appellate judges to reject the AFL-CIO’s suit seeking a short deadline for the agency to issue an emergency temporary standard (ETS) protecting workers from COVID-19, arguing that existing rules already provide enforceable standards for employers to prevent workplace infections.