A Calgary-area lab tech refused EI benefits by a tribunal and a federal court is taking her case to the Federal Court of Appeal. Rebecca Abdo was fired from her 10-year job as a Medical Laboratory Technician at Canadian Blood Services in 2021 when she declined to receive the COVID-19 injections due to her Christian beliefs.Abdo requested a human rights exemption to her workplace COVID-19 vaccination mandate on the basis of her beliefs, only to have her request denied because her employer failed or refused to follow the law of accommodation.Abdo’s employment insurance claim was denied because the government took the position she engaged in so-called “misconduct” when she declined any COVID-19 vaccines. Appeals of this denial did not win favourable decisions at the Social Security Tribunal or the Federal Court.Through her legal counsel, Liberty Coalition Canada Chief Litigator James Kitchen, Abdo has filed an appeal to the Federal Court of Appeal, which will hear the case later this year.The appeal will focus exclusively on the central issue of whether Rebecca Abdo “chose” not to take the COVID-19 vaccines. Kitchen argues that Abdo did not merely “choose” not take the shots the same way someone “chooses” what to wear each morning. He says she was unable to take the shots because she could not choose to violate her Christian beliefs and what she believed was God’s will for her life.Canadian law recognized that religious persons cannot simply change their beliefs. This was established in the Supreme Court of Canada cases of Corbiere v Canada, [1999] 2 S.C.R. 203, Quebec v A, 2013 SCC 5, and Amselem, 2004 SCC 47. Despite this, the Social Security Tribunal and Federal Court judge relied on the fiction that Rebecca “voluntarily chose” to violate her beliefs by taking the shots and therefore “chose” to engage in misconduct and should be denied EI benefits.Kitchen will ask the Federal Court of Appeal to heed the older legal precedents and address the issue of Rebecca’s involuntary decision to act in accordance with her beliefs.“The legally correct thing for the Federal Court of Appeal to do is to rule that Rebecca could not help but adhere to her beliefs, that, as a result, she did not willfully engage in misconduct, and, therefore, is entitled to her EI benefits like any other Canadian, regardless of their beliefs,” the LCC said in a press release.“So far, courts and tribunals have nearly always sided with the government’s narrative that everyone who was fired for not taking the COVID-19 shots should also be denied EI benefits. Rebecca Abdo, James Kitchen, and Liberty Coalition Canada hope to put an end to this unjust oppression of unvaccinated people.”Liberty Coalition Canada is covering Rebecca’s legal fees and encourages supporters to donate toward this case. As of March 15, $13,391 has been raised towards a $60,000 goal.READ MORE: Refusal of Alberta’s religious exemption to be challenged in Federal Court (May 14, 2023)
A Calgary-area lab tech refused EI benefits by a tribunal and a federal court is taking her case to the Federal Court of Appeal. Rebecca Abdo was fired from her 10-year job as a Medical Laboratory Technician at Canadian Blood Services in 2021 when she declined to receive the COVID-19 injections due to her Christian beliefs.Abdo requested a human rights exemption to her workplace COVID-19 vaccination mandate on the basis of her beliefs, only to have her request denied because her employer failed or refused to follow the law of accommodation.Abdo’s employment insurance claim was denied because the government took the position she engaged in so-called “misconduct” when she declined any COVID-19 vaccines. Appeals of this denial did not win favourable decisions at the Social Security Tribunal or the Federal Court.Through her legal counsel, Liberty Coalition Canada Chief Litigator James Kitchen, Abdo has filed an appeal to the Federal Court of Appeal, which will hear the case later this year.The appeal will focus exclusively on the central issue of whether Rebecca Abdo “chose” not to take the COVID-19 vaccines. Kitchen argues that Abdo did not merely “choose” not take the shots the same way someone “chooses” what to wear each morning. He says she was unable to take the shots because she could not choose to violate her Christian beliefs and what she believed was God’s will for her life.Canadian law recognized that religious persons cannot simply change their beliefs. This was established in the Supreme Court of Canada cases of Corbiere v Canada, [1999] 2 S.C.R. 203, Quebec v A, 2013 SCC 5, and Amselem, 2004 SCC 47. Despite this, the Social Security Tribunal and Federal Court judge relied on the fiction that Rebecca “voluntarily chose” to violate her beliefs by taking the shots and therefore “chose” to engage in misconduct and should be denied EI benefits.Kitchen will ask the Federal Court of Appeal to heed the older legal precedents and address the issue of Rebecca’s involuntary decision to act in accordance with her beliefs.“The legally correct thing for the Federal Court of Appeal to do is to rule that Rebecca could not help but adhere to her beliefs, that, as a result, she did not willfully engage in misconduct, and, therefore, is entitled to her EI benefits like any other Canadian, regardless of their beliefs,” the LCC said in a press release.“So far, courts and tribunals have nearly always sided with the government’s narrative that everyone who was fired for not taking the COVID-19 shots should also be denied EI benefits. Rebecca Abdo, James Kitchen, and Liberty Coalition Canada hope to put an end to this unjust oppression of unvaccinated people.”Liberty Coalition Canada is covering Rebecca’s legal fees and encourages supporters to donate toward this case. As of March 15, $13,391 has been raised towards a $60,000 goal.READ MORE: Refusal of Alberta’s religious exemption to be challenged in Federal Court (May 14, 2023)
