On June 9, 2021, the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal OSHA) reversed a COVID-19 rule adopted last week, that, had it gone forward, would have permitted employees to forego masks if every other person in a room was fully vaccinated (discussed in our previous Alert). The withdrawn masking rule previously had been criticized for being out of step with current state public health and CDC guidelines, which no longer require facial coverings for fully vaccinated persons in most public settings, with certain exceptions, such as healthcare settings and long-term care facilities, public transit, and sheltering operations. While the agency will consider revising its rule on June 17, 2021, for now, employees, regardless of their vaccination status, must continue to wear masks.
If you have any questions regarding this Alert, please contact the authors, David L. Cheng, partner in our Los Angeles office at dcheng@fordharrison.com, or Paul M. Suh, associate in our Los Angeles office at psuh@fordharrison.com. Of course, you can also contact the FordHarrison attorney with whom you usually work.