Oklahoma Bill Would Allow Workers To Sue Employers For $1M Over Harm From Vaccine Requirements

An Oklahoma Senate bill could allow employees of government and private entities to sue their employers for up to $1 million over health problems resulting from COVID-19 vaccine requirements.

State Sen. Rob Standridge (R-OK) introduced Senate Bill 1106, the “Citizen Health Mandate Protection Act,” on Friday. The bill would allow employees to sue their employers over medical issues related to any operations made mandatory as a condition of employment. If an employee is harmed by a forced medical operation, the employer could be liable for as much as $1 million.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), COVID-19 vaccines have been deemed safe and effective following the evaluation of data from “tens of thousands of participants in clinical trials.” The CDC also says serious “side effects that could cause a long-term health problem are extremely unlikely following any vaccination, including COVID-19 vaccination. Vaccine monitoring has historically shown that side effects generally happen within six weeks of receiving a vaccine dose. For this reason, the FDA required each of the authorized COVID-19 vaccines to be studied for at least two months (eight weeks) after the final dose. Millions of people have received COVID-19 vaccines, and no long-term side effects have been detected.”

The legislation comes after the Biden administration unveiled a sweeping new labor rule earlier this month, tallying roughly 500 pages and mandating all federal employees and contractors be vaccinated against COVID-19. The rule also mandates that employees at companies with at least 100 workers either be vaccinated or submit to regular COVID testing.

“Many Oklahomans may not know that COVID-19 vaccines have already been given liability protection from the federal government,” Standridge said in a statement. “If an employee is required to receive the vaccine or some other medical treatment as a condition of employment and it causes that person harm, our citizens need to know they’ll have some recourse that will provide them with meaningful relief. That’s what my legislation will do.”

Biden’s vaccine order, published by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), is currently in legal limbo after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit stayed the regulation after receiving a blitz of legal challenges. The court ruled that the challenges “give cause to believe there are grave statutory and constitutional issues with the Mandate.”

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