Two weeks before the province announced the suspension of its vaccine mandate, the City of Moose Jaw fired an employee who had worked from home and refused to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination.
The municipality fired Mirva Travland — an employee for nearly five years — on Jan. 26, 2022, for breaching its vaccine policy, with the termination coming 14 days before Saskatchewan announced on Feb. 8, 2022, that it was discontinuing its directive, the Saskatchewan Labour Relations Board (LRB) said in a decision released in December.
Travland was one of roughly 300 employees and was the only one terminated — others resigned or took early retirement — for declining to show vaccination proof, according to Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 9.
Union’s comments
“The Local’s stance was that the grievor was terminated on the day that the mandates were announced as being lifted within two weeks,” Trish Longworth, acting Local 9 president, told the Express by email.
“The grievor was not a health threat to anyone as she had been working from home for 16 months prior,” she said. “Having medical procedures or having to provide private medical information is not part of our terms of employment as per our collective agreement.”
Case facts
The city hired Travland on April 16, 2018, as a permanent geographical information system (GIS) technician, the LRB report said.
When the pandemic struck, Travland began working at home from March 20, 2020, until mid-July 2021 — nearly 17 months. The city then changed its remote work arrangement and told staff to return to the office three days a week.
On Oct. 12, 2021, city council approved a policy requiring employees to show either proof of a COVID-19 vaccination or a negative test, with the municipality agreeing to pay for the tests.
None of the three unions representing city employees — including CUPE Local 9 — grieved the policy.
City hall informed Travland on Oct. 19, 2021, that she had until Nov. 1 to provide proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test. On that latter date, her manager sent her home for non-compliance and put her on unpaid leave. She then received a written warning two days later.
The city sent Travland a letter on Nov. 18 suspending her for five days, followed by a second letter on Dec. 7 with a two-week suspension. She sent her department director an email asking if she could resume working from home full-time, but he denied her request.
The municipality issued a final warning letter on Jan. 13, 2022, telling her to comply and report to work by Jan. 24 before sending her a termination letter on Jan. 26.
The union then initiated a grievance on Feb. 8, asserting the city violated the collective agreement and did not have just cause to terminate Travland.
The union and city held three hearings, with former city manager Jim Puffalt denying the grievance on March 24. Mediation was unsuccessful, so the union appealed to the LRB, which met in May 2023.
“Asked if she ever considered complying with the policy, Travland said she decided not to divulge her personal medical information … ,” the report said. “(Meanwhile), the union told her they didn’t think the situation would qualify for (a medical or religious) accommodation.”
Party arguments
The union argued that Travland’s dismissal was abrupt and unreasonable — considering “vaccinated people can still transmit COVID” — and that the city pursued its progressive discipline process too quickly.
“The union agrees some discipline is warranted, but termination is going too far. Termination is harsh,” the report said.
Local 9 also argued the municipality should have given her more time before putting her on leave and starting the discipline process. Moreover, if the organization had left her on leave for another month, the province’s decision would have halted the policy.
However, the city successfully argued that Travland had plenty of warning about being fired after it suspended her. Furthermore, it attempted discipline over 66 days, which proved unsuccessful in resolving the problem.
Board decision
“This case was not complicated. The employer implemented a policy. Travland refused to comply with the policy (or disclose her medical information, which) … was culpable behaviour worthy of discipline,” the board said.
Not only did the city have just and reasonable cause to fire Travland, but its decision was reasonable given the circumstances, the board stated.
“Allowing the grievor to thumb her nose at the vaccination (and) testing requirements would undermine the significant efforts the city was making at the time to reduce the spread of COVID-19,” the document said.
The board added that Travland made herself ineligible to work because of her choices and “intransigent position,” that indefinite leave was not a viable option, and she presented no evidence of “rehabilitative potential.”
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