UHN vaccine mandate hits interim injunction roadblock

A vaccine mandate in Ontario has hit a roadblock for the first time. The Ontario Superior Court issued an interim injunction to prevent a group of unvaccinated employees from being fired for not complying with the University Health Network (UHN) vaccine mandate. Employees who had not yet received the COVID-19 vaccine were scheduled to be fired on Friday, October 22, 2021. The deadline was set by UHN to prevent unvaccinated employees from working there.

The interim injunction only applies to the 6 plaintiffs who filed the legal action, as well as 19 others who were in the process of joining the legal action when it was filed.  It is also only a temporary injunction that pauses the mandate for those employees for a week.

The issue of whether or not the court has jurisdiction in the matter will be revisited in court on Thursday, October 28, 2021. UHN argues it is a matter of the collective bargaining agreement that cannot be overseen by the court.

Superior Court Justice Sean Dunphy emphasized that the injunction does not represent a judgment on the mandate. “There may be merit to both positions and I need time to be better briefed,” Dunphy said.

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• University Health Network (UHN) vaccine mandate
• UHN severance packages