In what appears to be a significant departure from recent
arbitral decisions, an employer's COVID-19 vaccination policy
has been deemed unreasonable in light of new scientific data. In
FCA
Canada Inc. v Unifor, Locals 195, 444, 1285, the
Employer implemented its policy on October 14, 2021. The policy
required, in part, that employees, contractors, suppliers, and
visitors were required to be fully vaccinated with two doses of a
two-dose vaccine in order to attend the workplace. If an employee
did not abide by this requirement of the policy, they would be
placed on unpaid leave of absence, and possibly terminated for
non-compliance. The Union grieved that the policy was once
reasonable, but now was not. The parties presented their arguments
on May 25, 2022 and Arbitrator Marilyn Nairn eventually ruled that
the two-dose vaccine requirement was unreasonable.
