EI Denials and Vaccine Refusals: Newstalk 1010 interviews Jon Pinkus

Interview Summary

A man denied Employment Insurance after he was terminated has lost his appeals to a federal court.

A federal judge recently ruled that the reason for termination, a refusal of the COVID-19 vaccine, could be considered misconduct.

Will this decision impact other wrongful dismissal cases? Will more unvaccinated employees who have been terminated be denied employment insurance?

Jon Pinkus, a Toronto employment lawyer and Partner at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP spoke with Jim Richards on Newstalk 1010 to discuss the situation and more on employee rights.

Interview Notes

• Denial of EI to unvaccinated employees: Employers that terminate employees and do not offer adequate severance pay could face legal repercussions as it is difficult to difficult to terminate an employee for cause in Ontario. Employment Insurance alternatively, is awarded by the federal government. In this case, the government decided to treat employees that refused the vaccine as exhibiting misconduct. This was not an employer’s decision and does not award an employer more rights.
• Severance pay after termination: Many terminated unvaccinated employees were offered severance pay by their employers upon termination. Unfortunately, there was a large number of employers that wrongfully dismissed their employees.
• Influence of court decision: Many Canadians assumed that they would not be able to receive Employment Insurance after termination. At this time, there has still been no court decision regarding terminating an employee for cause due to a refusal to be vaccinated.