Employment Insurance (EI)

Decision

[1] Leave to appeal is refused. This means the appeal will not proceed.

Overview

[2] The Applicant (Claimant) was suspended because he did not comply with the employer’s COVID-19 vaccination policy (Policy). He was not granted an exemption for religious beliefs. The Claimant then applied for Employment Insurance (EI) regular benefits.

[3] The Respondent (Commission) determined that the Claimant was suspended because of misconduct, so it was not able to pay him benefits. After an unsuccessful reconsideration, the Claimant appealed to the General Division.

[4] The General Division found that the Claimant was suspended from his job following his refusal to follow the employer’s Policy. He did not get an exemption for religious beliefs. It found that the Claimant knew that the employer was likely to suspend him in these circumstances. The General Division concluded that the Claimant was suspended from his job because of misconduct.

[5] The Claimant seeks leave to appeal of the General Division’s decision to the Appeal Division. The Claimant submits that he followed all the steps required by his employer to obtain an exemption to their Policy, which was imposed outside of the collective agreement. He was denied an exemption without any explanation to support their decision. The Claimant submits that his refusal to take the COVID-19 vaccine was not misconduct under the law.

[6] I must decide whether the Claimant has raised some reviewable error of the General Division upon which the appeal might succeed.

[7] I refuse leave to appeal because the Claimant’s appeal has no reasonable chance of success.

Issue

[8] Does the Claimant raise some reviewable error of the General Division upon which the appeal might succeed? 

Analysis

[9] Section 58(1) of the Department of Employment and Social Development Act specifies the only grounds of appeal of a General Division decision. These reviewable errors are that:

1. 1. The General Division hearing process was not fair in some way.
2. 2. The General Division did not decide an issue that it should have decided. Or, it decided something it did not have the power to decide.
3. 3. The General Division based its decision on an important error of fact.
4. 4. The General Division made an error of law when making its decision.

[10] An application for leave to appeal is a preliminary step to a hearing on the merits. It is an initial hurdle for the Claimant to meet, but it is lower than the one that must be met on the hearing of the appeal on the merits. At the leave to appeal stage, the Claimant does not have to prove his case but must establish that the appeal has a reasonable chance of success based on a reviewable error. In other words, that there is arguably some reviewable error upon which the appeal might succeed.

[11] Therefore, before I can grant leave to appeal, I need to be satisfied that the reasons for appeal fall within any of the above-mentioned grounds of appeal and that at least one of the reasons has a reasonable chance of success. 

Does the Claimant raise some reviewable error of the General Division upon which the appeal might succeed?

[12] The Claimant submits that he followed all the steps required by his employer to obtain an exemption to their Policy, which was imposed outside of the collective agreement. He was denied an exemption without any explanation to support their decision. The Claimant submits that his refusal to take the COVID-19 vaccine was not misconduct under the law.

[13] The General Division had to decide whether the Claimant was suspended because of misconduct.

[14] The notion of misconduct does not imply that it is necessary that the breach of conduct be the result of wrongful intent; it is sufficient that the misconduct be conscious, deliberate, or intentional. In other words, in order to constitute misconduct, the act complained of must have been wilful or at least of such a careless or negligent nature that one could say the employee wilfully disregarded the effects their actions would have on their performance.

[15] The General Division’s role is not to judge the severity of the employer’s penalty or to determine whether the employer was guilty of misconduct by suspending the Claimant in such a way that his suspension was unjustified, but rather of deciding whether the Claimant was guilty of misconduct and whether this misconduct led to his suspension.^{Footnote 1}

[16] Based on the evidence, the General Division determined that the Claimant was suspended because he refused to follow the Policy. He had been informed of the employer’s Policy and was given time to comply. He was not granted an exemption for religious beliefs. The Claimant refused intentionally; this refusal was wilful. The General Division found that the Claimant knew that his refusal to comply with the Policy could lead to his suspension. This was the direct cause of his suspension.

[17] The General Division concluded from the preponderant evidence that the Claimant’s behavior constituted misconduct.

[18] It is well-established that a deliberate violation of the employer’s policy is considered misconduct within the meaning of the Employment Insurance Act (EI Act).^{Footnote 2} It is also considered misconduct within the meaning of the EI Act not to observe a policy duly approved by a government or an industry.^{Footnote 3}

[19] It is not really in dispute that an employer has an obligation to take all reasonable precautions to protect the health and safety of its employees in their workplace. In the present case, the employer followed the Nova Scotia’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate and required that all employees working for X be vaccinated by November 30, 2021. The Policy was in effect when the Claimant was suspended.

[20] The question of whether the employer failed to accommodate the Claimant by not allowing an exemption for religious beliefs, or whether the Policy violated his employment rights, or whether the Policy violated his human and constitutional rights, is a matter for another forum. This Tribunal is not the appropriate forum through which the Claimant can obtain the remedy that he is seeking.^{Footnote 4}

[21] The Federal Court has rendered a recent decision in Cecchetto regarding misconduct and a claimant’s refusal to follow the employer’s COVID-19 vaccination policy. The claimant submitted that refusing to abide by a vaccine policy unilaterally imposed by an employer is not misconduct. He put forward that it was not proven that the vaccine was safe and efficient. The claimant felt discriminated against because of his personal medical choice. The claimant submitted that he has the right to control his own bodily integrity and that his rights were violated under Canadian and international law.^{Footnote 5}

[22] The Federal Court confirmed the Appeal Division’s decision that, by law, this Tribunal is not permitted to address these questions. The Court agreed that by making a personal and deliberate choice not to follow the employer’s vaccination policy, the claimant had breached his duties and had lost his job because of misconduct under the EI Act.^{Footnote 6} The Court stated that there exist other ways in which the claimant’s claims can properly advance under the legal system.

[23] In the previous Paradis case, the Claimant was refused EI benefits because of misconduct. He argued that there was no misconduct because the employer’s policy violated his rights under the Alberta Human Rights Act. The Federal Court found it was a matter for another forum.

[24] The Federal Court stated that there are available remedies for a claimant to sanction the behaviour of an employer other than transferring the costs of that behaviour to the Employment Insurance Program.

[25] As stated previously, the General Division’s role is not to determine whether the employer was guilty of misconduct by suspending the Claimant in such a way that his suspension was unjustified, but rather of deciding whether the Claimant was guilty of misconduct and whether this misconduct led to his suspension.

[26] The preponderant evidence before the General Division shows that the Claimant made a personal and deliberate choice not to follow the employer’s Policy in response to the exceptional circumstances created by the pandemic and this resulted in him being suspended from work.

[27] The Claimant submits that he found a tribunal decision like his case where the applicant was successful in receiving EI benefits.^{Footnote 7} It is important to reiterate that the General Division decision referred to is not binding on the Appeal Division.^{Footnote 8} Those of the Federal Court are binding and have been followed by the Appeal Division. Furthermore, the facts are different in that the claimant’s collective agreement had specific provisions regarding the refusal of any vaccination. The Claimant did not present any such evidence before the General Division. Moreover, the General Division decision referred to was rendered prior to the Federal Court decision in Cecchetto.

[28] I see no reviewable error made by the General Division when it decided the issue of misconduct solely within the parameters set out by the Federal Court of Appeal, which has defined misconduct under the EI Act.^{Footnote 9}

[29] I am fully aware that the Claimant may seek relief before another forum, if a violation is established.^{Footnote 10} This does not change the fact that under the EI Act, the Commission has proven on a balance of probabilities that the Claimant was suspended because of misconduct.

[30] In his application for leave to appeal, the Claimant has not identified any reviewable errors such as jurisdiction or any failure by the General Division to observe a principle of natural justice.  He has not identified errors in law nor identified any erroneous findings of fact, which the General Division may have made in a perverse or capricious manner or without regard for the material before it, in coming to its decision.

[31] After reviewing the docket of appeal, the decision of the General Division and considering the arguments of the Claimant in support of his request for leave to appeal, I find that the appeal has no reasonable chance of success. 

Conclusion

[32] Leave to appeal is refused. This means the appeal will not proceed.