Can an Employer Fire Me for Just Cause for Refusing COVID-19 Vaccination? Help from Wrongful Termination Lawyer
As an wrongful termination lawyer I am assisting many employees in Ontario workplaces who were terminated from their employment for refusing to obtain the COVID-19 vaccination. Over the past several months, more companies have announced they will be terminating employees for failing to comply with mandate vaccination policies.
Ontario companies generally have authority to impose mandatory vaccination requirements for their employees under the Occupational Health and Safety Act, which requires them to take steps to keep their employees safe at work, including from COVID-19. That said, they must properly allow reasonable exemptions for employees who have religious and disability accommodations.
To date, most employers have been delayed dismissing employees under the assumption many would change course and get vaccinated, while some others have provided alternative option of regular testing for employees. For instance, some companies’ vaccination policies require employees to either get a COVID-19 vaccination or test for the virus on a weekly basis.
Ultimately, however, employers can decide on their own whether to stick to their vaccine requirements, without offering any testing alternatives. In such cases, the key issue facing many employment lawyers in Ontario is whether employers can legally dismiss unvaccinated employees for not complying with mandatory vaccination policies.
Unfortunately, many unvaccinated employees will be fired this year by their employers for refusing to get the Covid-19 vaccine. While the courts have not yet weighed in on mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policies or whether employees fired from their job in such situations can succeed in a wrongful dismissal claim, employees do have options for legal recourse. However, for the time being, there is still some uncertainty on this difficult issue until a court case sets the standard.
What Can Employees Do Who Are Fired for Refusing to Vaccinated? Call Wrongful Termination Lawyer
Recently, many wrongful dismissal lawsuits have been filed against employers as a result of COVID-19 vaccine mandates with the help of employment lawyers in Ontario. Unlike in the U.S. where employers can rely on a different legal rule allowing “at-will” employment, Ontario employment law rarely allows employers to suddenly fire employees for any reason.
In fact, unless an employer can prove an employee engaged in serious work misconduct (“termination for just cause“), employers must provide an employee with prior reasonable notice, or a financial severance package. (Also, employers cannot fire an employee for discriminatory reasons). Otherwise, an employee should contact a wrongful termination lawyer and discuss their option of bringing a wrongful dismissal claim against the employer to seek their full severance package (which consists of severance pay owed to them under Ontario employment law).
In addition to suing their employers for wrongful dismissal, employees may be able to argue they were discriminated against on the basis the employer failed to accommodate their religious beliefs or disability accommodations. In fact, this argument appears convincing given the ongoing context of even vaccinated employees becoming infected with the COVID-19 vaccine.
For instance, if employees can safely work from home in jobs where they rarely interact with the public, employers may have a hard time justifying a wrongful dismissal for refusing to comply with mandatory vaccination. In such cases, some unvaccinated employees terminated with cause may be able to succeed in a wrongful dismissal claim if they can establish the employer has not provided evidence that their refusal to vaccinate endangered health and safety of a workplace. To protect their employee legal rights, workers should quickly contact an experienced wrongful termination lawyer to discuss and evaluate their job termination.
Call Bune Employment Lawyer
While the courts have not ruled on an employee claim for wrongful dismissal for refusing vaccination, it is extremely important for employees to contact an employment lawyer to get legal advice and representation for wrongful dismissal.
If you are an employer or employee, please contact Bune Law at 647-822-5492 arrange a consultation with an employment lawyer in the Toronto area, so that we can discuss your employment termination in detail, explain your rights and options, and determine whether you need a wrongful termination lawyer to assist in responding to your wrongful termination.
For employees, if you have been wrongfully fired from your job for refusing COVID vaccination, Bune employment lawyer strongly believes that you are entitled to fair severance package compensation from your employer. Call our experienced wrongful termination lawyer for help. When you call, you will speak with a top employment lawyer to discuss your wrongful dismissal case, evaluate your case, and review your severance package. Call now to learn about your employee legal rights.
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