Dr. Joseph Hickey, a data scientist at the Bank of Canada (Canada’s central bank), was removed from his duties and put on forced unpaid leave from work on Nov. 22, 2021, for declining to receive injections of a COVID-19 vaccine product. Dr. Hickey worked in the Digital Economy and Advanced Analytics Division of the Bank’s Canadian Economic Analysis Department. The Bank created its vaccination policy following the Canadian government’s mandate requiring vaccination for travellers and employees in federally-regulated industries.
Dr. Hickey is also the (volunteer) Executive Director of the Ontario Civil Liberties Association (OCLA).
Prior to being placed on unpaid leave, Hickey requested an accommodation to be permitted to continue working from home as he and his colleagues had been doing since March 2020. His accommodation request letter of Nov. 12, 2021, expressed his:
- objection to the arbitrary and unnecessary nature of the policy;
- concerns about the known and unknown medical risks of the vaccine products;
- deeply held conviction that receiving an injection was not the right personal health choice for him;
- argument that the policy discriminated against him on the basis of age and sex, since males aged 30-39 have a significantly higher risk of developing heart inflammation (myocarditis or pericarditis) following two doses of an mRNA vaccine than females or males over 40, as shown by data from Public Health Ontario.
The Bank denied Hickey’s accommodation request and communicated this to him via a meeting on MS Teams on Nov. 18 and by email on Nov. 19, 2021. The Bank’s email states:
“Having reviewed your request in consultation with third party experts, the Bank has determined that you have not established that your request meets the threshold for a medical, religious, sex and age based accommodation.
…
Please note that you will be expected to comply with the Bank’s mandatory COVID-19 Vaccination Policy. To the extent that you remain non-compliant, you will be placed on leave without pay or benefits as of November, 22, 2021; your employment may ultimately be terminated if you remain non-compliant after the leave period.
As discussed, your access to the Bank’s system will be suspended. You will also be sent a prepaid courier box for the purpose of collecting your Bank assets. This will be sent to the home address the Bank has on file for you. If this address is not up-to-date, please provide me with the correct address. Please provide me with a personal email address so that I may contact you during your leave, if and when required. As well, you cannot come onsite and your building pass has been disabled.
Should you decide to comply with the Bank`s policy, please provide the dates you will be receiving, or have received, your first and second doses. Once you have your second dose please use the attached form to attest that you are fully vaccinated. Once I receive this completed form from you, your system access will be restored, your Bank assets will be returned to you, and you will be reintegrated to work as soon as possible. You will be removed from leave without pay and benefits the day following your second dose. However, please note that you will be required to work remotely for a 14 day period following the second dose, which is required to be considered fully vaccinated. Upon restoration of your system access, you will also be required to update your vaccine status using the Bank’s Service Now Attestation Tool.
I also wish to remind you that as a Bank employee you have access to the Employee Assistance and Family Program (EFAP) which is a confidential counselling and information service. Should you wish to avail yourself of their services, they can be reached at [redacted]. Please let me know if you have any further questions.”
