Tom Roper, K.C. and Jaime Hoopes of Roper Greyell LLP successfully
represented the appellant in the recent decision Purolator
Canada Inc v Canada Council of Teamsters, 2026 BCCA 3, where a
unanimous Court of Appeal set aside an arbitrator's conclusion
that Purolator's mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy was
unreasonable.
In reversing the B.C. Supreme Court's decision upholding the
arbitrator's award, the Court reaffirmed that employer policy
decisions must only be reasonable, not correct, in times of
scientific uncertainty.
Background
On September 15, 2021, amid the height of the COVID-19 pandemic,
Purolator Canada Inc ("Employer")
introduced a mandatory vaccination policy known as the COVID-19
Safer Work Policy (the "SWP"), which
remained in effect from January 1, 2022 to May 1, 2023.
