A lawsuit launched by a British Columbia public servant against COVID-19 vaccination mandates last year is allowed to proceed, with the case to be heard in court next year. The BCPS Employees for Freedom, a non-profit organization that helps public service employees in BC, announced on Friday the class action, filed October 30, 2023, has been certified by the court. Plaintiff Jason Baldwin’s lawsuit includes “all unionized BC public servants harmed by the BC government's proof of COVID-19 vaccination mandate” — thereby potentially including tens of thousands of public servants. BCPS says some 38,000 public servants were impacted by the BC government’s “coercive and unjustifiable proof of COVID-19 vaccination mandate” that caused “untold suffering and harm.”.As the Western Standard earlier reported, Baldwin filed the lawsuit last year, arguing the compelled injections and requirement of proof of vaccination violated bodily autonomy and medical privacy and contradicted the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.The Baldwin class action has since merged with a separate class action claim by United Health Care Workers of BC. The two parties will present arguments over five days of hearings beginning April 7, 2025. Each of the class actions argue the mandate violates the Charter by “imposing new terms and conditions of employment on existing and freely negotiated employment agreements absent collective bargaining, consideration, or consent,” said BCPS. The lawsuits also claim the mandates “breached employees' common law and statutory privacy rights, as well as misfeasance in public office by BC's Public Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry.”According to court submissions, at least 314 employees were fired for not complying with the vaccine policy, and 175 workers were put on an unpaid leave. An untold number were coerced to take the vaccine and accepted the injection for fear of losing their job. BCPS in a post on social media called for unionized BC public servants and healthcare workers harmed by the provincial government's COVID-19 vaccination mandates to join.
