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The Department of Justice announced criminal charges against an oilfield company, its vice president, and one of its contractors in connection with two deaths at a company facility in 2019.

Sighs of relief due to newfound clarity about whether they were required to quickly implement a vaccinate-or-test policy, coupled with off-pitch renditions of Taylor Swift’s Stay Stay Stay were likely heard from the offices of large employers Thursday afternoon, January 13, 2022, after the Supreme Court’s decision to temporarily stay the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (“OSHA”) COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard (“ETS”) was released.

Last month, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a $35,000 fine against an employer whose foreman, despite explicit instructions by a company manager to fix an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) rules violation, allowed his crew member to work while the violation continued.

Large employers likely had a particularly bad case of the Mondays this week after a weekend of anticipating whether the Supreme Court would stay the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (“OSHA”) + (“ETS”) as a result of oral arguments presented on Friday, January 7, 2022.