B.C.'s courts have again upheld a health authority's decision to suspend or terminate an unvaccinated health-care worker during the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n
In an Aug. 7 decision in a Kelowna court, a B.C. Supreme Court justice dismissed the judicial review petition from a doctor who lost her hospitalist position in 2021 for refusing to get vaccinated against COVID-19, finding that the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms does not apply to a health authority's decision as to how it implements a government policy.<\/p>\n
Dr. Theresa Szezepaniak was terminated from her job at the Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops after refusing to abide by an October 2021 mandate from provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry that all hospital workers get the vaccine.<\/p>\n
Szezepaniak appealed her termination to the hospital appeal board, which found that while outright firing was too harsh a punishment, it was still reasonable to not keep her on if she was still unvaccinated when her contract came up for renewal.<\/p>\n
Szezepaniak lost her job, remained unemployed for two months and moved to 100 Mile House to work as a family physician. She argues the episode left her with financial and psychological harm, and a "black mark" on her employment record.<\/p>\n