After being terminated by the City of Windsor for violating its COVID-19 vaccine mandate, 20 former staffers are pursuing legal action.
The city announced in January it would be firing 104 staffers who refused to get vaccinated against COVID-19, disclose their vaccination status or submit a medical or religious exemption.
Twenty of those workers have been named as plaintiffs in a statement of claim that was sent to the city last week, according to the plaintiffs' lawyer Courtney Betty.
Betty submitted a copy of the statement of claim to CTV News.
"There's just no logic as to why the city would fire first responders, individuals who have been working there for over 30 years," he said.
"One individual was within six months of retirement when these individuals should have been allowed to work from home."
The 20 plaintiffs include four people who were firefighters, 11 others who worked for the City of Windsor, four ex-Enwin utility workers and one person who worked at the Huron Lodge long-term care home.
In terms of what they are seeking from the city as part of this lawsuit, Betty said "each situation is different."
"There are some individuals who are just so frustrated now. They would not want to be back at the City of Windsor," said Betty.
"But there are some individuals that would like to be able to return back to their jobs.
For employment lawyer Howard Levitt, the plaintiffs' chances of success are low — especially for workers who were unionized.
That's because courts have made clear that they will not get involved in vaccine-related matters for unionized employees, according to Levitt.
"There's a whole grievance and arbitration process and the court will not assist unionized employees," he said.
Some of the 20 former staffers were non-unionized, however, which Levitt said may result in those individuals having a slightly higher — but still low — chance of having the judge side with them.
"The court might say that it's a wrongful dismissal. They might say that. But I don't think they will," said Levitt.
"If they do, it will be on the basis that it [COVID-19] is not as severe a virus as it used to be. The variants aren't as dangerous ...That's the best case. But I think that's a losing case."
When asked about the lawsuit Thursday morning, the acting medical officer of health for Windsor-Essex, Dr. Shanker Nesathurai, said he believes the city's vaccine mandate was fair.
In a statement to CTV News, the city said it would not comment on pending legal matters.
Municipal staffers who were not in compliance with the City of Windsor's vaccine mandate were placed on unpaid leave in Nov. 2021, before terminations began two months later.
