A Calgary woman who was denied unemployment benefits after being fired for not having a COVID-19 shot has filed an application in Federal Court for judicial review.
Rebecca Abdo is a married, devout Christian who applied for a religious exemption after her employer, Canadian Blood Services (CBS), implemented a mandatory COVID-19 vaccine policy. Abdo, who had worked for the company for more than 10 years as a medical laboratory technologist, was denied her exemption and then fired. The termination was recorded as “dismissal with cause.”
Abdo’s employment insurance (EI) claim was then denied, first by the EI program, and then by the commission on appeal, with the government taking the position that she was fired for her own “misconduct” by declining to receive COVID shots….