Federal Employee Court Challenge of COVID Vaccine Mandate Going to Hearing

A health-care worker prepares a dose of a COVID-19 vaccine at a clinic Toronto on Jan. 7, 2021. The Canadian Press/Nathan Denette

A class action lawsuit against the federal government’s COVID vaccine mandate for core public administration employees has been approved by the Federal Court.

The class action was started in response to the vaccine mandate issued in 2021 for public administrative employees, including those working for the RCMP and Treasury Board, according to the Jan. 2 court decision.

The plaintiffs argue the mandate violated their charter rights by “imposing a new term and condition of their employment by the Treasury Board in the absence of collective bargaining or other agreement, consideration, or consent.”

The plaintiffs are Stacey Payne, who worked for the Department of National Defence but was suspended on Dec. 15, 2021; John Harvey, who was employed with the Correctional Service of Canada until his suspension on March 11, 2022; and Lucas Diaz Molaro, who worked for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario until he resigned on Oct. 25, 2021.

The Government of Canada challenged the lawsuit in August 2024, asking the court to strike it down.

In the decision, Justice Richard Southcott said he was allowing the lawsuit to move forward.

The plaintiffs had claimed the mandate was not valid for two reasons: that it violated the employees’ charter rights and was a tort of misfeasance in public office.

Justice Southcott said the case could continue on the grounds of the vaccine mandate violating charter rights, but that the plaintiffs could not claim the tort because they have grievance rights under federal labour law.

”My Order will strike the portion of the Claim related to the Plaintiffs’ assertion of the tort of misfeasance in public office, because the Plaintiffs are afforded grievance rights under the [Federal Public Sector Labour Relations Act] FPSLRA in relation to those claims, which therefore fall outside the jurisdiction of the Court,” he wrote in the decision.

Southcott also said it was “plain and obvious” that the tort claim had “no reasonable chance of success.”

The Epoch Times contacted the Treasury Board for comment but did not hear back by publication time.

A similar class action against the federal government was filed in October 2023, representing unvaccinated Canadians who were negatively affected by mandatory COVID policies, lockdowns, or vaccine mandates.

At that time, lawyers for the plaintiffs said about 700 people had signed on to be a part of the case.

The lawsuit seeks compensation for those who did not get vaccinated against COVID and lost their jobs or were denied the right to travel during the pandemic.

It asks the court to award $500,000 per plaintiff for violating their charter rights, damages of $200,000 per plaintiff for intentional infliction of mental suffering, and $200,000 for each plaintiff to cover economic consequences.