Lior Samfiru, Globe and Mail, on wrongful dismissals due to vaccine policies

Employers and businesses across the country have imposed vaccine policies that have led to terminations despite at times, no government support. Employment lawyers have cautioned employers from implementing policies without seeking legal advice. What could these policies mean for unvaccinated employees and their rights to severance pay?

Lior Samfiru, a Toronto employment lawyer and co-founding partner at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP spoke with the Globe and Mail regarding wrongful dismissal suits and the rights of unvaccinated employees.

“I have never had, in my 20-year career, so many calls, e-mails, queries about a single issue as I have about employees being let go or put on indefinite leave because of a company vaccine mandate,” Samfiru states.

Samfiru goes on to explain that Samfiru Tumarkin LLP has been inundated with hundreds of cases involving unvaccinated employees who have been terminated, largely with cause, due to their vaccination status. “There have been thousands of people that have been put on unpaid leave or flat-out terminated without compensation. It’s a huge issue and I think a lot of employers do not understand the legalities of it,” says Samfiru.

Samfiru explains that employers should bear in mind the practicality of vaccination policies. “We always have to ask: What is the purpose of the policy? An employer will say, it is to keep the workplace safe. So how does the vaccine status of an employee who works from home impact that in any way?”