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Kentucky AG files lawsuit against Biden's vaccine mandate for businesses

The lawsuit comes a day after AG Cameron filed against vaccination mandates for federal contractors.

FRANKFORT, Ky. — A day after filing a lawsuit against COVID-19 vaccination mandates for federal contractors, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron is filing another lawsuit challenging mandates for employees in the private sector.

Cameron is joining the suit with six other attorneys general in Idaho, Kansas, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and West Virginia. The lawsuit questions the legality of President Biden administration’s emergency temporary standard for the vaccine mandate. 

According to the mandate, first introduced in September, companies with 100 or more employees will need to be vaccinated against COVID-19 by Jan. 4 or get tested for the virus weekly. The requirements will apply to about 84 million workers at medium and large businesses, although it is not clear how many of those employees are unvaccinated. 

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is enforcing the regulations and requires companies to test unvaccinated workers for COVID-19 at least once a week and wear a mask while in the workplace. 

OSHA said companies failing to comply with the regulations could face penalties of nearly $14,000 per violation.

Cameron and the coalition of attorneys general argue OSHA lacks statutory and constitutional authority to issue mandates or fines.

"Many Kentuckians are concerned by the overreach the Biden administration is displaying in issuing a federal vaccine mandate through OSHA, and our office is taking action on their behalf and on behalf of the Commonwealth," Cameron said.

The petition was filed in the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and are asking to halt the mandate until a court rules on its legitimacy. 

View a copy of the filing here.

RELATED: Kentucky AG suing Biden over federal COVID-19 vaccine mandate

RELATED: What vaccine mandate means for businesses and workers

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