Business & Tech
Huntsville / Madison County Chamber: Chamber Board Opposes Civil Liability Changes For Employers Following COVID Vaccine Mandates
As a community with a very large number of federal contractors, such legislation would have significant potential to do great damage not ...
2021-11-01
The federal COVID vaccine mandates for federal contractors and employees have provoked a series of bills in the special legislative session called by Governor Ivey to redraw district lines for a number of elected offices. There are now more than 12 such bills in the Legislature, including five filed in the House on Friday, that would create a civil liability nightmare for employers.
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Employers (and potential employers) following the federal vaccine mandate would be subject to preliminary or permanent injunctions. No security would be required for an action seeking a preliminary or permanent injunction. Employers would be subject to penalties and attorney fees and costs, including expert fees.
On October 28, the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber Board of Directors voted to oppose these measures and immediately contacted members of the Madison County delegation to share their concerns.
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As a community with a very large number of federal contractors, such legislation would have significant potential to do great damage not only to the employers, but also to this region’s economy.
Employers are not at liberty to choose which federal mandates they support. Compliance with such mandates, however, should not be misinterpreted as support for the mandates.
Employers are already very concerned about the impact of these mandates on their business and employees. The potential workforce issues it creates are being felt across the federal contracting businesses in our area. These mandates, however, are being implemented as a contract clause, therefore the only choice in not meeting this requirement is contract forfeiture. While these bills are trying to help the workforce, they will have the opposite effect. It places every federal contractor in a no-win situation of being sued by employees for following the mandate or giving up all contracts for not following it. Either way, the employee will be out of a job and a business will likely cease to exist.
We encourage our Chamber members to contact members of the legislature to share your concerns about such legislation:
Madison Co. Legislative Delegation Office
madcoleg@knology.net
Representative Mike Ball
mikeball@knology.net
Representative Laura Hall
annihall19@gmail.com
Representative Ritchie Whorton
ritchieWhorton@gmail.com
Representative Anthony Daniels
Anthonydanielsdistrict53@gmail.com
Representative Mac McCutcheon
c.mac.mccutcheon@gmail.com
Representative Howard Sanderford
hs1989@aol.com
Representative Rex Reynolds
rex.reynolds@alhouse.gov
Representative Andy Whitt
andy.whitt@alhouse.gov
Senator Tim Melson
tmelson672@aol.com
Senator Steve Livingston
senatorstevelivingston@gmail.com
Senator Arthur Orr
senator@arthurorr.com
Senator Clay Scofield
clayscofield@mclo.org
Senator Tom Butler
senbutler@aol.com
Senator Sam Givhan
sam.givhan@alsenate.gov
225 Church Street NW, Huntsville, Alabama 35801
Phone: 256-535-2000 | Fax: 256-535-2015 | hsvchamber.org
This press release was produced by the Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/Madison County. The views expressed are the author's own.