London, ON, resident Robin Francis, who was terminated from his employment and deemed ineligible for Employment Insurance benefits for not taking COVID-19 vaccines, has made a special judicial review application to the Federal Court of Appeal. .“Our view is that an employee’s unwillingness to comply with any workplace policy that violates their fundamental Charter rights cannot qualify as ‘misconduct,’ particularly in the free and democratic society of Canada, where an enormous value is rightly placed on the rights and freedoms of the individual,” said Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF)-funded counsel James Manson in a Monday press release. .The release said the Federal Court of Appeal is being asked to determine the denial of EI benefits to Francis was unjustified and violated his Charter rights..It said he was a respected engineer in his workplace at the London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) and had won awards and recognitions for his work..He worked mostly from home and said he believed he did not pose a health risk to anyone. He received an email in 2021 from his company mandating all employees of LHSC take COVID-19 vaccines. .After the policy took effect, he informed his manager and human resources official that while he would follow all other COVID-19 restrictions, he had made the decision to not be vaccinated. This resulted in his termination. .The release went on to say the Canada Employment Insurance Commission (CEIC) decided Francis’s refusal to take COVID-19 vaccines amounted to willful misconduct. It added he received no EI which he had paid into to support his family, and he was forced to rely on his savings to make ends meet. .He unsuccessfully challenged the denial of his EI benefits through the internal processes of the CEIC and the Social Security Tribunal of Canada (SSTC). .The release said Manson filed a notice of application at the Federal Court of Appeal on Wednesday, asking it to review the decision of the SSTC upholding the denial. .Manson called the decision “deeply concerning.” In most cases, he said employee misconduct can and should result in workers losing their entitlement to EI benefits. .Manson said this case is different..In this case, he said the tribunal “appears to be saying that no matter what an employer’s workplace policy requires (even if it requires an employee to do something that violates his or her Charter rights) failure to abide by that policy means that the employee must also lose their EI benefits if they are terminated by their employer.” .“That is far too draconian a result,” he said. .“It simply does not accurately reflect the state of the law in Canada on this issue, and I am confident that the Federal Court of Appeal will agree.” .Fired delivery driver Timothy Conlon, who lost his job when he refused COVID-19 vaccines, won his case at the SSTC in September. .READ MORE: Canadian social security tribunal rules in favour of fired unvaccinated employee denied EI.The tribunal reversed the denial of Conlon's EI benefits. .“The government’s treatment of Mr. Conlon and other vulnerable Canadians on the basis of their personal medical decisions has been a gross abuse of their bodily autonomy and constitutional rights,” said JCCF lawyer Marty Moore.
