Hoffman Quoted in The Wall Street Journal About Whether Employers Can Require Employees to Get a COVID-19 Vaccine

18 September 2020

Partner Carrie Hoffman was quoted in The Wall Street Journal article, “Can an Employer Require You to Get a Covid-19 Vaccine?” which examined whether private businesses can require employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19 when the vaccinations are available.

Hoffman, a labor and employment lawyer, told the WSJ that a vaccine requirement may be lawful but impractical, especially for larger companies. “It’s going to be a tough call for a lot of employers,” Hoffman said.

She says it could be time-consuming and costly for a company’s human resources to sort out individual opt-out requests. A company that mandates vaccines could also face a gross negligence suit or have to pay out a workers’ compensation claim if an inoculated employee has a severe reaction. On the flip side, it is unlikely that a company would be held legally responsible for not requiring vaccinations if no law were violated. “I don’t see how an employer would be liable for not mandating a vaccine,” she said.

Because of those complications, companies have more incentive to encourage, facilitate and subsidize vaccinations to help curb the spread of disease, she added.

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