Eligibility for all Health Care Workers who can be categorized into the following 4 areas of harm, as identified by Sheikh Legal:

1) Placed on leave without pay or terminated by their employer. 2) Coerced or threatened into taking a COVID-19 vaccination. Includes members currently employed. 3) Resigned or took an early retirement due to the vaccine mandate. 4) Vaccine injured.

Restitution will be sought under four umbrellas:

​1) reinstatement, back-pay and damages for employees placed on leave without pay, or terminated;

2)severance, back-pay and damages for employees placed on leave without pay, or terminated who cannot or do not want to return to work;

3)a remedy for employees who have felt compelled to retire early because of the proof of COVID-19 vaccination mandate and have had their pensions reduced; and

4)a remedy for employees who were coerced to comply with the proof of COVID-19 vaccination mandate.

On the broadest level, the collective goals of our Legal Campaign are to:

1) Seek justice for health care professionals.
2) Uncover, with discovery, how these matters were handled by those who had a responsibility to us. 3) Ensure that the mistakes made in respect of Covid 19 are not repeated in the future.

Members of the UHCWO Legal Campaign are encouraged to use this campaign to seek justice for their own specific circumstances. There will likely be multiple options for each member to do so, and our approach is strategically diversified. For example, on a broad level, class actions could be available to virtually all members. Getting more specific, many claims will only apply to specific groups, such as unionized, or non-unionized.

It is possible, and even likely, that each member will be involved in multiple legal actions (ie. lawsuits), at some point in the campaign.

Examples of Campaign Actions

The following is a guide illustrating some of the legal actions that could be undertaken as part of the UHCWO Legal Campaign. It is organized from broad to more specific. While it is not comprehensive, it should allow most members to get a sense of actions that may be taken.

The following categorizations will allow people to see which actions they are likely to be eligible for. They are colour coded and will be included under each example. Please bear in mind that most people will belong to multiple categorizations. If one of the categories is struck out, it means that a person fitting in that category can’t partake in that action, even if they belong to other groups that can.

Legend

(U) Unionized - unionized employee affected by government or employer mandates, and whose unions failed to adequately represent
(NU) Non-unionized – an employee affected by government or employer mandates, and who was not subject to a collective bargaining agreement (aka, excluded employees)

(RE) Retired Early – an employee who took early retirement to mitigate damage from mandate
(OPL) On Paid Leave – an employee who was on some kind of paid leave (eg. medical, stress, parental) prior to and during the time mandates were in effect.

(V) Vaccinated – an employee who did not wish to be vaccinated, but felt compelled to do so in order to maintain employment (UV)Unvaccinated – an employee who did not get vaccinated

Legal Actions with Broadest Applicability, examples:

1. Charter claims against government agencies, eg. Ministry of Health .

(U)(NU)(RE)(OPL)(V)(UV)
* Not applicable to employees who only faced employer mandates.

2. Civil claims against government agencies.

(U)(NU)(RE)(OPL)(V)(UV)

* Not applicable to employees who only faced employer mandates.

3. Challenge to Employment Insurance program (EI).

(U)(NU)(RE)(OPL)(V)(UV)

*Applicable to virtually anyone who was not permitted to continue working due to vaccine mandates, and who was otherwise eligible to receive compensation from EI. Note: This lawsuit would likely be the broadest in terms of membership eligibility.

4. Duty of fair representation claim (DFR) against union.

(U)(NU)(RE)(OPL)(V)(UV)

Note: The DFR process begins in a labour tribunal, which is not court. DFRs are traditionally unsuccessful at this initial tribunal level (over 95% of the time).

5. Breach of union constitution and bylaws claim against union.

(U)(NU)(RE)(OPL)(V)(UV)

Note: This action involves internal claims that the unions did not follow their own rules when dealing with the covid vaccine mandates, instead behaving in a way that was arbitrary and discriminatory.

6. Human rights Tribunal

(U)(NU)(RE)(OPL)(V)(UV)

This action may include religious, medical and privacy breaches.

Legal Actions with Focussed Applicability, examples:

7. Constructive dismissal claim against employer.

(U)(NU)(RE)(OPL)(V)(UV)

* Strictly limited to non-unionized employees who were put on leave, but not terminated, as a result of covid vaccine mandates.

8. Wrongful dismissal claim against employer.

(U)(NU)(RE)(OPL)(V)(UV)

* Strictly limited to non-unionized employees who were terminated as a result of covid vaccine mandates.

Special Note For Those On Paid Leave Prior to and during Mandates:

The same potential for harm still exists for those on leave, as it is presumed that those persons will exist under the vaccine policies upon return from work. For this reason, members who found themselves in such circumstances are still able to participate in the legal campaign.