TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Oct 26, 2021

The legislature’s next special session begins tomorrow with a focus on curbing the authority of health departments, schools and private businesses to impose COVID-19 mandates. Bills that have been introduced include those that would (1) ban public facilities, government agencies and private companies from requiring employees be vaccinated; (2) ban businesses from denying goods and services to those who are unvaccinated; (3) ban schools from requiring masks or contact tracing; (4) provide exemptions to mandates for personal conscience, religious beliefs, medical reasons or recovery from COVID-19; (5) allow workers who suffer vaccine side effects to file workers’ compensation claims or sue employers; (6) subject local public health officers to mayors; and (7) make school board races partisan. Read more about the proposals in the Tennessean.