An amendment to Senate Bill (SB) 758 that would have banned workplace vaccine requirements was not approved last week by the Missouri Senate.
Sponsored by Sen. Bob Onder (R-St. Charles), the amendment would have given employees or prospective employees a legal cause of action against employers who have a COVID-19 vaccine requirement, allowing employees to sue for punitive damages on three times back pay or even prospective wages and benefits, according to a press release.
“It's really concerning considering that it would have allowed trial attorneys to make a lot of money on the backs of small businesses,” said Kara Corches, vice president of governmental affairs with the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry. “It sends a message that there seems to be a break from our usual system of reliance on our free enterprise market.”
As previously reported in the St. Louis Record, anti-vaccine mandate legislation has been advancing quickly since the legislature convened on Jan. 5
“Our point is employers have this long-held so why are we trying to completely make a departure from long-standing employer rights,” Corches told the St. Louis Record. “This is a slippery slope. If they're going to say that businesses can't require COVID vaccines in the workplace, what could be next? If they disagree with an employee benefit package, are they going to put a mandate on that also?”
The Missouri Chamber argues that government should not dictate employers’ vaccination policies.
“It was encouraging for us to see Republicans and Democrats working together to vote down the amendments,” Corches added. “It's a small group of Republicans who are pushing that extreme language that benefits trial attorneys.”
In an effort to protect Missouri’s employers, the Missouri Chamber has led the Let Business Decide, which is a campaign designed to empower employers to help keep them from government overreach.
“Employers are the key to getting our economy and lives back to normal and this type of policy is the last thing that they need. We applaud those senators who stood up for employers last night by voting down this dangerous amendment,” said Daniel P. Mehan, Missouri Chamber president, and CEO. “It is disappointing to see lawmakers use the COVID-19 pandemic as a windfall for trial attorneys, but we are grateful that the majority of senators have employers’ backs.”