Ineligibility to Work Due to Vaccine Refusal Is Just Cause to Terminate

She didn’t get fired because she refused to get vaccinated; she got fired because in so refusing, she disqualified herself from being available for work under the agency’s mandatory vaccination policy. So, reasoned the BC arbitrator in rejecting the grievance of a veteran substance abuse counselor with a spotless record. The policy didn’t provide for termination. But in rendering herself ineligible to work for an indefinite period, “there was no path forward for her continued employment” [Fraser Health Authority v British Columbia General Employees’ Union, 2022 CanLII 25560 (BC LA), April 4, 2022].