I’m not anti-vax and I’m fine with people choosing to get the vaccine.
But I really don’t like the idea of people being coerced into taking a COVID vaccine whose longterm effects are not yet known.
So I wanted to point out a legal issue. The vaccine manufacturers are exempt from liability. What about private employees that mandate vaccines as a condition of employment? They are stepping into a big stinking pile of liability if there are any provable side effects and they require this now, before the longterm effects are known.
So to those in the private section (at a minimum) who require this, welcome to the world of being sued by plaintiffs for the side-effects of experimental vaccines that you made them undergo as a condition to remain employed.
This is an issue that won’t be determined now. It will be determined by juries within 1-2 years (or longer, under the discovery rule), if it can be shown that there are demonstrably provable adverse effects.
Let’s say that .05 percent of the population has a terrible reaction as a physical consequence, because of some physiological variable that will be identified in a year or two. That comes out of your pocket, woke employers.
If you agree and sign a contract accepting the vaccine as a condition of employment vs quitting you can bet you signed away your rights to sue as well...
Not necessarily (and especially not if there are large numbers of people with longterm adverse effects). Did the employer notify the employee that there are serious health risks and that the employee could be harmed?
I’m not trying to be argumentative here, but I understand tort law (civil suits for personal injury) and there will be a field day for plaintiff’s attorneys in many venues if there is a discernible pattern of health consequences for certain individuals.
If I were a wise employer, I’d adopt a “wait and see” attitude to see how things stand in a few years. Take it you want, or not...
I say this as a test dummy who got one of the double-shot vaccines (without demanding that anyone else do this). Great for me if it works like a charm, and I’m the only one to blame if it doesn’t ... because I wasn’t forced to get it.
Over and above any employment waivers, there is also the PREP Act to consider as it's been invoked until 2024, this provides additional immunity protections to other entities over this COVID vaccine, and although it hasn't been tested in court, the "Program Planners" clause might actually protect businesses as they could very well be deemed to have implemented a countermeasure program by mandating vaccines and become a protected entity...
"A program planner means a State or local government, including an Indian Tribe; a person employed by the State or local government; or other person (such as a private sector employer or community group) who supervises or administers a program with respect to the administration, dispensing, distribution, provision, or use of a countermeasure. This includes persons who establish requirements or provide policy guidance ,or who supply technical or scientific advice or assistance or who provide a facility to administer or use a “covered countermeasure” in accordance with a Declaration"
https://www.phe.gov/Preparedness/legal/prepact/Pages/prepqa.aspx#immune4
Sorry to say, but I think at this point the dream of lawsuits is slim, the government has stacked the cards against it and the courts are unlikely to knock down that house of cards, basically take the vaccine at your own risk, if you employer mandates it and you don't want to take the risk, let them fire you and have that day in court, probably a better chance of a prevailing over wrongful termination at this point...
Vaccine injuries from an employer-mandated vax would give you a work comp claim. Each state will apply their own work comp law. There are no juries in WC (maybe one or two states). Cases will be decided by governor-appointed administrative law judges. Employers will eat it, but WC compensates only for medical & economic damages, not pain/suffering or other benefits in traditional civil law.
I'll argue that immunity gets thrown out the window when fraud is involved.
There is no fraud clause in the vaccine immunity law to invoke...