Another day passes and another judge refuses to suspend the mandatory vaccination of a group of employees: this time it is federal officials who have failed in their attempt to avoid the COVID-19 vaccine.
Federal Court Judge Simon Fothergill on Thursday dismissed their request for an injunction against the vaccine policy of their employer, the Canadian government.
He believes that the harm caused by the unpaid suspension of public service employees is not “irreparable”, since it could be compensated in money.
This is not the end for them, however: this request for a stay was only a step while awaiting the due process of government policy. The ultimate goal of these officials is to have it invalidated.
Before them, federal subcontractors had also failed with a similar request, as well as the union of Canada Post employees. In Quebec, the request for the suspension of the vaccination obligation of health workers had suffered the same fate.
Here, federal officials believe that this obligation to be injected violates their freedom of choice and the inviolability of their person, a right protected by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The consequence of their refusal is heavy, they say: an unpaid suspension from November 15, which was the deadline to comply with the policy.
In his ruling on Thursday, Justice Fothergill refused to intervene for two reasons. He ruled that this request could not be adjudicated by the Federal Court, because it was rather an employment-related conflict and therefore fell within the scope of the collective agreement and its grievance mechanism.
But there is more: according to the judge, a vaccination obligation does not cause irreparable damage, because it does not impose vaccination at all costs. Protestant officials have a choice: get vaccinated and keep their employment income, or stay unvaccinated and lose it.
And because lost wages can be compensated for with money, officials have failed to demonstrate that they would suffer “irreparable harm” if the injunction is not granted – a key criterion for obtaining it. This request must therefore be rejected, ruled Judge Fothergill.
Michael N. Bergman, one of the civil servants’ lawyers, said he is discussing the next steps in this litigation with his clients.