The public servant argued the COVID-19 precautions being taken by Elections Canada were insufficient in a crowded workplace.
An Elections Canada official who argued the government’s COVID-19 protocols were insufficient to protect public servants has lost his legal bid to work from home.
Nicolas Juzda, chief of field programs at Elections Canada, refused to return to the office after the Treasury Board Secretariat ordered public servants back to their desks two days a week in March 2023.
Juzda said it wasn’t safe to return to the office given the ongoing health threat posed by COVID-19.
He exercised his right to refuse dangerous work under the Canada Labour Code. Juzda argued the COVID-19 precautions being taken by Elections Canada, while compliant with standards set by the government, were insufficient in a crowded workplace.
“I hope that Elections Canada will, after investigating this issue, take the necessary steps to make its offices safe,” he wrote in formally refusing to return to his workplace on March 3, 2023.
Elections Canada investigated the work refusal and issued a formal employer’s report in August 2023. It concluded Juzda had no basis on which to assert the workplace posed a danger to him.
The report noted Election Canada’s approach to COVID-19 met or exceeded available safety guidance, masks remained available to employees, ventilation systems were equipped with fine particle filters and physical distancing continued to be encouraged.
After receiving the employer’s report, Juzda reiterated his refusal to work.
Election Canada’s employee workplace committee then investigated Juzda’s work refusal as required by the Canada Labour Code.
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In October 2023, the committee concluded there was no imminent or serious threat to Juzda that fell within the labour code’s definition of “danger.”
Faced with two reports that concluded he faced no significant workplace danger, Juzda still maintained his refusal to work.
His case was then handed to a senior compliance and enforcement official with Employment and Social Development Canada’s labour program. The official met virtually with Juzda, reviewed the reports on his work refusal and consulted with experts in the department.
The official concluded Juzda’s complaint was frivolous.
“His concerns of imminent danger to his health are not based on facts, they are speculative and hypothetical,” the official said. “The hazard expressed by the worker appears to be a summary analysis of the current situation in the sense that it considers only the elements determining the risk, and not the control measures in place.”
Still unwilling to return to work, Juzda sought judicial review of the official’s decision in Federal Court.
In court, Juzda argued the official’s decision lacked transparency and coherent reasoning, and failed to address his central concerns related to the transmission and spread of COVID-19.
In a recent decision, Federal Court Judge Benoit Duchesne rejected those arguments, noting that Juzda made clear he believed “the mere possibility” of contracting COVID-19 in the workplace constituted a danger within the meaning of the Canada Labour Code.
He noted Juzda is vaccinated and has no known medical conditions that make him more vulnerable to COVID-19 or its effects.
The judge dismissed Juzda’s judicial review application.
“The applicant (Juzda) has not demonstrated how the decision is unreasonable in light of its potential impact on his livelihood and continued employment at Elections Canada,” Duchesne said. “I find that the decision, in both its rationale and outcome, is transparent, intelligible and justified.”
Juzda, who joined Election Canada in 2018, could not be reached for comment. It’s not yet known if he has returned to the workplace.
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