Associated Builders and Contractors released the following statement from Ben Brubeck, ABC vice president of regulatory, labor and state affairs, on the 11th Circuit Court decision on vaccination mandates for federal contractors announced on Friday evening.

“This evening’s decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit on the federal contractor COVID-19 vaccine mandate case is a major victory for ABC and our members as the court has made it clear that ABC members and state plaintiffs 'need not comply with the vaccination requirement in their capacity as contractors, and they are not responsible for including that requirement in lower-tier subcontracts.'

“The 11th Circuit’s decision narrowed the December 2021 nationwide preliminary injunction granted by the Georgia District Court to only ABC members who bid on federal contracts and the state plaintiffs in the case. The injunction was a direct result of ABC intervening as the lone business group challenging the federal contractor vaccine mandate, along with the plaintiff state governments.

“ABC will continue to lead efforts to push back on the Biden administration’s executive overreach harming federal contractors with respect to COVID-19 vaccine mandates and other anti-competitive and costly policies targeting federal contractors, such as the proposed rule implementing President Biden’s Executive Order 14063, which requires controversial union-favoring government-mandated project labor agreements on federal construction projects of $35 million or more.”

In another COVID-19 vaccine case, ABC applauded the U.S. Supreme Court for its Jan. 13, 2022, decision reinstating the stay on the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard, which applies to employers with 100 or more employees. On behalf of the construction industry, ABC filed one of the emergency appeals to the Supreme Court leading to this successful outcome.