Termination: OK to Terminate Hospital Worker for Concealing His COVID-19 Symptoms

For 4 straight days, a hospital maintenance worker signed a workplace form attesting that he was free of COVID-19 symptoms, even though he had a heavy cough and was experiencing fatigue and a sinus buildup in his chest. The hospital only discovered this after the fifth day when the worker called in sick after testing positive for COVID. It then fired him for making false attestations in violation of the COVID policy. The Ontario arbitrator upheld termination, citing the worker’s close contacts with doctors and other co-workers and history of discipline for falsifying work records and health and safety violations [Johnson Controls Canada LP v Teamsters Local Union 419, 2022 CanLII 40 (ON LA), January 4, 2022].