The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit this month ruled against the environmental prime at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site, saying it lacks sovereign immunity from a lawsuit filed by a radiation technician who was fired after refusing a COVID-19 vaccination.
Amentum-led United Cleanup Oak Ridge (UCOR) argued it is shielded from the suit brought by Yolonda Riggs, citing derivative immunity by virtue of its DOE contract.
But the appeals court said that argument fails because UCOR mandated COVID shots for most workers before the federal government ordered it to make any such move. A federal court blocked implementation, in Tennessee, of a subsequent White House executive order on contractor COVID vaccinations. Finally, the executive branch lifted most government COVID restrictions in May 2023.
“UCOR has therefore failed to show that the government validly directed it to implement its vaccine policy,” the Sixth Circuit said. The appeals court was not swayed by UCOR’s stance that the mandate was a “reasonable” step to protect the health of its workforce under a 10-year-old contract.
The plaintiff, who claimed a religious exemption, argued UCOR lacked immunity.
UCOR announced in August 2021 that workers should be vaccinated by Nov. 1, 2021, absent an approved accommodation. But it was not until September 2021 that President Joe Biden issued executive order 14042 that required government contractors to “provide adequate COVID-19 safeguards to their workers,” the appeals court panel said.
While DOE would modify its UCOR contract, mandating COVID vaccination, in October 2021, a federal court in November blocked implementation of the policy in Tennessee, the Sixth Circuit said.
“And we later held that the president likely lacked the authority to issue it,” the Sixth Circuit said. Also, the U.S. Supreme Court, an independent branch of the federal government, blocked an Occupational Safety and Health Administration vaccination mandate for large employers in January 2022. The Biden administration ended the COVID-era restrictions in May 2023, citing plummeting hospitalization rates.
The Aug. 2 decision from the three-judge panel for the Sixth Circuit is an unpublished opinion, which indicates it might not be a binding precedent in future legal disputes. The Sixth Circuit issued its decision without hearing oral arguments.
UCOR declined to comment on the decision.