TORONTO (LifeSiteNews) – In a win for those who chose not to get the COVID shots and were fired from their jobs as a result, a Canadian arbitrator ruled that one of the nation’s leading hospitals must compensate 82 healthcare workers terminated after refusing to get the jabs.
The ruling, issued by Toronto arbitrator John Stout on August 12, concerns 82 healthcare workers who worked for the William Osler Health System (WOHS). Forty of them were fired “with cause” for not getting the COVID shots and 42 were suspended. They are represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE).
The company’s COVID jab policy, implemented in 2021, mandated that all workers have at least two COVID shots as a condition of work.
Stout noted in his ruling that it was possible to fire staff for not getting the jab, saying, “Not surprisingly, arbitrators have found that a requirement to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in a healthcare setting is reasonable.”
But he added that “no arbitral consensus has emerged with respect to the consequences for employees who chose not to be vaccinated or disclose their vaccination status.”
Stout wrote that “based on the very unique circumstances at WOHS, I find that the grievors in this matter were terminated for just cause. The employees chose not to be vaccinated and as a result they were not reasonably available to attend at work, which at a minimum severely and negatively impacted the employment relationship.”
However, Stout also ruled that the hospital must pay the fired and suspended staff because they chose not to go along with the mandates in a manner that had no “malicious intent.”
“That being said, the individual grievors were misguided and their conduct was not with any malicious intent,” he wrote.
“The ESA (Employment Standards Act) provides that unless an employee’s actions amount to ‘willful misconduct, disobedience or willful neglect of duty that is not trivial,’ they will be entitled to termination and severance pay.”
Stout noted that the hospital had denied the workers’ grievances, “taking the position that the individual grievors were appropriately terminated for just cause and not entitled to termination and severance pay under the Employment Standards Act (ESA).”
Because the matter was not resolved via mediation, it went to arbitration.
Stout ultimately ruled that “I find that the individual grievors who were terminated from their employment by the Hospital are entitled to termination and severance pursuant to the ESA.”
“Accordingly, WOHS is ordered to provide such grievors with their notice and severance pay under the ESA, where applicable. The grievances are partially allowed, to the extent outlined in this award.”
The arbitration hearing was held on August 7 and included high-level staff from both the WOHS and CUPE as well as legal counsel for both parties.
Draconian COVID mandates, including those surrounding the experimental mRNA vaccines, were imposed by the provincial Progressive Conservative government of Ontario under Premier Doug Ford and the federal Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Many recent rulings have gone in favor of those who chose to not to get the shots and were fired as a result.
The mRNA shots have been linked to a multitude of negative and often severe side effects in children. The jabs also have connections to cell lines derived from aborted babies. As a result, many Catholics and other Christians refused to take them.