National Federation of Independent Business v. OSHA
Overview
Overview
OSHA issued an emergency temporary standard requiring employers with 100 or more employees to mandate COVID-19 vaccination or weekly testing. The Supreme Court held 6-3 in a per curiam decision that OSHA lacked statutory authority to impose such a broad mandate, staying the rule under the major questions doctrine.
The Facts
Facts
During the COVID-19 pandemic, OSHA issued an emergency temporary standard requiring businesses with 100 or more employees to require workers to be vaccinated or to undergo weekly testing and wear masks. The mandate affected over 80 million workers. Multiple parties challenged the rule as exceeding OSHA's statutory authority.
The Issue
Issue
Whether OSHA had statutory authority under the Occupational Safety and Health Act to impose a COVID-19 vaccination-or-testing mandate on employers with 100 or more employees.
The Rules
Rule
Under the major questions doctrine, when an agency claims authority to resolve a question of vast economic and political significance, Congress must have clearly granted that power. OSHA's authority to regulate occupational hazards does not extend to a general public health measure applicable to all workers regardless of workplace-specific risk. A broad vaccine mandate applicable to nearly all large employers is not a workplace-specific regulation within OSHA's traditional purview.
The Application
Analysis
Applying the major questions doctrine, the Court found that OSHA's mandate crossed the line from regulating workplace-specific hazards into general public health policy affecting the entire population. Because COVID-19 is not a uniquely workplace hazard and the vaccine-or-test requirement applied uniformly to nearly all large employers regardless of actual workplace transmission risk, the rule addressed a question of vast economic and political significance requiring clear congressional authorization. OSHA's statutory authority to regulate occupational safety and health. Traditionally focused on workplace-specific dangers like machinery or chemicals. Did not clearly encompass imposing a nationwide pandemic response mandate covering over 80 million workers. The absence of explicit congressional delegation of such sweeping power to OSHA triggered and satisfied the major questions doctrine, invalidating the rule.
The Conclusion
Conclusion
NFIB v. OSHA was a significant application of the major questions doctrine, blocking a major COVID-19 workplace mandate as beyond OSHA's statutory authority. The decision reinforced limits on agency power to address broad public health crises and presaged the Court's subsequent articulation of the major questions doctrine in West Virginia v. EPA. It also highlighted the distinction between workplace hazards and general societal risks.
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