Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/21pdf/21a244_hgci.pdf
Page Number: 18.0

2  NATIONAL FEDERATION OF INDEPENDENT BUSINESS v. 

OSHA 
BREYER, J., dissenting 
BREYER, SOTOMAYOR, and KAGAN, JJ., dissenting 

Health Administration (OSHA) issued an emergency tem-
porary standard (Standard), requiring either vaccination or 
masking  and  testing,  to  protect  American  workers.  The 
Standard  falls  within  the  core  of  the  agency’s  mission:  to 
“protect  employees”  from  “grave  danger”  that  comes  from
“new hazards” or exposure to harmful agents.  29 U. S. C. 
§655(c)(1).  OSHA  estimates—and  there  is  no  ground  for
disputing—that the Standard will save over 6,500 lives and 
prevent over 250,000 hospitalizations in six months’ time. 
86 Fed. Reg. 61408 (2021).

Yet  today  the  Court  issues  a  stay  that  prevents  the 
Standard from taking effect.  In our view, the Court’s order 
seriously misapplies the applicable legal standards.  And in 
so  doing,  it  stymies  the  Federal  Government’s  ability  to
counter  the  unparalleled  threat  that  COVID–19  poses  to
our Nation’s workers.  Acting outside of its competence and
without  legal  basis,  the  Court  displaces  the  judgments  of
the Government officials given the responsibility to respond
to workplace health emergencies.  We respectfully dissent. 

I 

In 1970, Congress enacted the Occupational Safety and 
Health Act (Act) “to assure so far as possible every working 
man and woman in the Nation safe and healthful working 
conditions and to preserve our human resources,” including
“by  developing  innovative  methods,  techniques,  and  ap-
proaches  for  dealing  with  occupational  safety  and  health
problems.”  29 U. S. C. §§651(b), (b)(5).  To that end, the Act 
empowers  OSHA  to  issue  “mandatory  occupational  safety
and health standards applicable to businesses affecting in-
terstate commerce.”  §651(b)(3).  Still more, the Act requires
OSHA to issue “an emergency temporary standard to take
immediate effect upon publication in the Federal Register 
if [the agency] determines (A) that employees are exposed 
to grave danger from exposure to substances or agents de-