Arbitrator Allows Religious-Based Exemption From Covid-19 Mandatory Vaccination Policy

• Author: Ms Gabrielle Berron-Styan
• Law Firm: Roper Greyell LLP ' Employment and Labour Lawyers
• Published date: 25 April 2023

In the recent case of B.C. Rapid Transit Co. v. Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 7000 (Morzhakov Grievance), [2022] B.C.C.A.A.A. No. 114 (Noonan), Arbitrator Randall Noonan held that an employer violated an employee's rights under the B.C. Human Rights Code when it refused to grant a religious accommodation in relation to its COVID-19 mandatory vaccination policy.

Facts

The employer implemented its COVID-19 Safety Vaccination Policy requiring all employees to be fully vaccinated by December 20, 2021, unless they received an accommodation on the basis of a ground protected under the Human Rights Code.

The grievor was employed as an Asset Integration Monitor. He was brought up in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and taught that his body was sacred so he should not smoke or drink or alter his body. He had never received an injection.

In response to the vaccination policy, the grievor sought an exemption from being vaccinated based on his religious belief.

In order to determine whether the grievor had a sincerely and honestly held religious belief in respect of vaccination, the employer asked him to provide information about the following:

• his religious belief;
• how his religious belief led him to object to vaccinations generally, including the...