The B.C. Court of Appeal has overturned a labor administrator’s ruling that supported Purolator workers who were terminated or suspended for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine. This decision reverses a previous judgment that awarded lost wages and benefits to hundreds of employees due to the vaccine requirement.
Represented by Teamsters Local Union No. 31, the employees filed numerous grievances, arguing that Purolator’s vaccine mandate was unjustifiable. The lower court had initially deemed the mandate reasonable until June 30, 2022, based on evolving scientific evidence suggesting vaccination alone might not halt COVID-19 transmission.
However, the Court of Appeal criticized the labor arbitrator, Nicholas Glass, for applying a standard of “correctness” instead of “reasonableness,” deeming it a fundamental flaw in the ruling. Justice David Harris emphasized that scrutinizing an employer’s response based on extensive medical studies to declare it unreasonable was unreasonable in itself.
Glass had instructed Purolator to compensate employees for lost wages from July 1, 2022, until their return to work after May 1, 2023. Following this decision, a new arbitrator will review the union’s grievances.
Purolator introduced a “safer workplaces policy” mandating COVID-19 vaccinations for its staff on September 15, 2021, amid the pandemic’s surge. By January 2022, unvaccinated employees were either placed on unpaid leave or had their contracts suspended, prompting the union’s extensive grievances.
The Court of Appeal highlighted the internal inconsistency in Glass’s reasoning, suggesting Purolator was held to a higher standard than warranted. The union’s argument that factual conclusions could be made regarding an employer’s policy effectiveness was dismissed due to the ongoing virus mutations and uncertainties.
The court stressed the importance of reasonable measures in such circumstances rather than demanding objectively proven correctness. Teamsters Local Union No. 31 and Purolator have yet to comment on the recent developments.