Starbucks, Carhartt Take Opposite Stand on Vaccine Mandates

The U.S. Supreme Court’s Jan. 13 ruling striking down the Biden administration’s vaccine-or-test mandate for private businesses left many companies scrambling to decide whether they should abandon the mandate or force their employees to be vaccinated while the lawsuit plays out in the lower courts.

Meanwhile, a coalition of attorneys general from 27 states is calling on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to rescind its Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) because it lacks the authority to issue a broad vaccine mandate.

Starbucks was one of the first major retailers to backtrack on its plans to require workers to be vaccinated against COVID. Starbucks on Tuesday told its 228,000 employees at more than 9,000 U.S. coffee shops it would no longer require workers be fully vaccinated or submit to weekly COVID testing.

Tuesday’s announcement rescinded the company’s Jan. 3 statement that it would require all employees to comply with the vaccine-or-test requirement by Feb. 9. At the time, CEO John Culver said it was the responsibility of Starbucks’ leadership “to do whatever we can to help keep you safe and create the safest work environment possible.”… (Excerpts from The Defender)