Sask woman missed vaccine mandate dropping by 13 days
Jonathan Bradley
Published on:
10 Jan 2024, 12:55 pm
A Saskatchewan work-at-home computer technician fired in the last days of vaccine mandates in 2022 has lost her bid to get her job back, according to Blacklock’s Reporter.
“Employees do not get to pick and choose which policies they will follow and which they will not,” said the Saskatchewan Labour Board (SLB) in a ruling.
“Deliberate noncompliance with policy is culpable behaviour.”
Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 9 said the computer technician was one of 250 City of Moose Jaw employees to be terminated for declining to show proof of vaccination.
Former City of Moose Jaw computer technician Mirva Travland was fired in 2022 for breaching its vaccine mandate.
“I will not reveal my medical information, my private medical information,” said Travland.
CUPE Local 9 protested Travland’s dismissal as abrupt and unreasonable, noting vaccinated people can transmit COVID-19. She said she worked from home for 15 months with high efficiency.
She described herself as a great employee with no disciplinary record who enjoyed her work. However, the City of Moose Jaw argued she had ample warning she faced termination after being suspended without pay.
“Allowing the grievor to thumb her nose at the vaccination and testing requirements would undermine the significant efforts the City was making at the time to reduce the spread of COVID,” said the SLB.
“She was clear and unequivocal in her refusal to comply because she was not prepared to disclose her medical information.”
When it came to the vaccine mandate, the SLB said there “is no question she intended to refuse to comply.” It added there was no misunderstanding.
While Travland had a right to make her personal choices and it accepts she believes her views, it said the result of her choices “was that she made herself ineligible to work for the City.”
She was fired 13 days before the Saskatchewan government announced it was suspending its vaccine mandate. Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said proof of vaccination had been an effective policy, but its effectiveness had outweighed its course.
“The benefits no longer outweigh the costs,” said Moe.
“It’s time to heal the divisions over vaccination.”
This ordeal comes after the BCPS Employees for Freedom Society (BCPSEFS) launched a class action lawsuit against the British Columbia Public Service over its vaccine mandate for employees in November.
READ MORE: BC public servants group initiates class action lawsuit over vaccine mandate
BCPSEFS said applicant Jason Baldwin’s lawsuit is against the BC government and Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry.
With this lawsuit, it said Baldwin filed it because the vaccine mandate, which was enacted by executive order of BC's cabinet, was contrary to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and violated employees’ medical privacy and bodily autonomy. |
