The new Utah Vaccine Passport Prohibition legislation (HB 131) prevents most Utah businesses from requiring employees or patrons to be vaccinated for any disease. The new law will take effect May 3, 2023.
The new law has two components:
When it comes to how businesses and enterprises treat patrons, the new law provides individuals in Utah an “equal right to access business establishments, places of public accommodation, and enterprises … without discrimination on the basis of immunity status.”
Immunity status is defined as “an indication of whether an individual is immune to a disease, whether through vaccination or infection and recovery.”
Accordingly, Utah businesses cannot treat individuals differently based on whether an individual is vaccinated. Even though the law is plainly a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, it does not limit its coverage to only COVID-19 immunity. Rather, immunity status of any type of disease may not be taken into account in providing public accommodations.
The law provides for a private right of action against companies accused of denying access...
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