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ARTICLE · 29 JUNE 2022

Court Upholds Mcmaster University's COVID Exemption Request Process

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As Ontario considered a return to in-person learning, McMaster developed a COVID-19 vaccination policy requiring all faculty, staff, and students who attended university property...

CanadaGovernment, Public Sector
Erica Sanderson
Erica Sanderson
Neva Lyn-Kew
Neva Lyn-Kew
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What you need to know

  • In Michalski v. McMaster University, the Ontario Divisional Court dismissed an application for judicial review of four McMaster University decisions regarding creed-based exemption requests from its COVID-19 vaccination policy.
  • In the decision, the court emphasized that the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (HRTO) is the appropriate place to decide on these matters.
  • The court also found that McMaster's process for addressing accommodation and exemption requests gave applicants the necessary procedural fairness.
  • This finding suggests that similar employer processes will satisfy the procedural fairness requirement.

Background

As Ontario considered a return to in-person learning, McMaster developed a COVID-19 vaccination policy requiring all faculty, staff, and students who attended university property to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Alternatively, individuals could request exemptions based on a protected ground under the H

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