SAN FRANCISCO – A lawsuit was filed on Dec. 16 in San Francisco County Superior Court against the California Division of Safety and Health for ignoring COVID-19 California workplace rules.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), the National Retail Federation and three California small business owners who are NFIB members.
The NFIB's argument is that a 14-day quarantine regulation for employees is flawed.
"We believe the 14-day exclusionary period for employees exposed to COVID-19 is a perfect demonstration of what happens when agencies rush rules like the Emergency Temporary Standards," Karen Harned, NFIB Small Business Legal Center executive director, told the Northern California Record in an email.
"The agency should have gone through notice and comment rulemaking before issuing this standard. The fact that the agency is requiring a 14-day quarantine when CDC only recommends seven days shows how rushed this rule is. And it’s a rule that will significantly harm the small business owners trying to comply with it. As we note in our lawsuit, on December 14 — 14 days after the rule took effect — (California Gov.) Newsom issued another executive order trying to cut back on the application of the 14-day exclusionary period. This is not how to make law ever, but particularly in a pandemic when small businesses are struggling to survive."
According to the CDC guidelines, “quarantine can end after Day 7 if a diagnostic specimen tests negative and if no symptoms were reported during daily monitoring.”
“Since March, California employers have worked hard to ensure their workplaces are safe,” Harned said. “Despite this fact, Cal/OSHA failed to follow the proper legal procedures that would benefit from the real-world experiences of business owners across the state, and instead rushed forward with this rule that imposes another significant financial burden on small businesses at a time when they can least afford it.”