The "Now Hiring" sign outside Doolittle Trailer Manufacturing in Holts Summit could be a sign of things to come.
The business recently joined Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt and 10 other states in a lawsuit against the vaccine mandate for private employers with more than 100 employees.
The director of marketing says the business fears losing employees when the mandate takes effect in January.
"We will suffer a huge change in our production staff," Kyle Caraway said. "We're almost certain actually, that would cause this business that's 43 years old, and family owned and operated, to have to shut its doors."
Caraway said Schmitt reached out directly to Doolittle about getting the company's opinion on the federal mandate.
"After a discussion with him, we gladly jumped at the chance to make our voice heard," Caraway said.
He also noted they are excited about the lawsuit.
"We're enthusiastic about being a part of [the lawsuit] against the Biden administration to stop the mandate," Caraway said. "All we can do is take it one day at a time and hope that the lawsuit does what it's supposed to do and protects employers like us."
However, University of Missouri law professor Richard Reuben said the lawsuit's success is highly unlikely.
"In a court of law, a state, especially a state government, does not have the ability to simply ignore federal law," Reuben said.
According to the Supremacy Clause, the federal vaccine mandate is the law. Any state law that is inconsistent with federal law is invalid, according to Reuben.
He compared the situation to the Nullification Crisis in 1832.
"The state of Missouri is trying to nullify federal law," Reuben said. "Missouri is saying 'We will not obey federal law.'"
Doolittle Trailer Manufacturing employs between 150 to 200 individuals, the majority of which Caraway says won't comply with the vaccine mandate
"We don't ask whether they're vaccinated or not," Caraway said. "It's their right to protect themselves and their families, however they see fit."
