Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte warned businesses via Twitter that if they tried to enforce President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate, they were breaking Montana law.
“Discrimination based on vaccination status is illegal in Montana,” said Gianforte, a Republican. “No employer in our state should use @JoeBiden’s OSHA rule as a basis for imposing illegal vaccination requirements on employees.”
Montana’s Human Rights Act, House Bill 702 prohibits discrimination based on an individual’s vaccination status, says the state.
Discrimination based on vaccination status is illegal in Montana.
No employer in our state should use @JoeBiden’s OSHA rule as a basis for imposing illegal vaccination requirements on employees.
— Governor Greg Gianforte (@GovGianforte) December 21, 2021
The OSHA rule regarding forced vaccinations and testing has been on-again and off-again as it makes its way through various court challenges.
The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate for private businesses of 100 or more employees, which requires big companies to force vaccinations on employees or test them regularly as a matter of workplace safety.
A coalition of 27 states, including Wyoming, have asked the Supreme Court to implement a stay of the president’s order while the cases is decided in the court.
“Wyoming has asked the Supreme Court to halt implementation of the emergency temporary standard issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) which mandates vaccines on employees of private Wyoming businesses with over 100 employees,” said state officials via a press release.
The way forward for businesses isn’t as clear in other states as it is in Montana.
“[M]any states and cities have created their own vaccine rules — some more stringent than the federal government’s, as in New York City, where an option to test out of vaccine requirements isn’t allowed,” said the New York Times.
But Montana’s governor has made it much easier for businesses to comply by simply outlawing the vaccine mandate.
“Despite President Biden’s efforts to mandate vaccinations for employers and their employees,” Gov. Gianforte said, “Montana law remains the law of the land, and no employer in our state should use President Biden’s OSHA rule.”
