An arbitrator has upheld the terminations of two pilots who refused to comply with Perimeter Aviation LP’s mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy, rejecting their claims for religious exemptions and finding just cause for dismissal.
The case involved P.F. and W.B., two pilots who were placed on unpaid administrative leave in November 2021 after refusing to be vaccinated in accordance with a Transport Canada order. The order required all air carriers to implement a mandatory vaccination policy, allowing exemptions only on medical or religious grounds. The airline’s policy, implemented on Oct. 29, 2021, was consistent with these requirements.
Both pilots applied for religious exemptions, citing their evangelical Christian beliefs. Their exemption requests were denied, and they were terminated on May 20, 2022, after being given multiple opportunities to comply. The union, the Air Line Pilots Association, grieved the terminations, arguing that the pilots had sincerely held religious beliefs and that their dismissals were unjust given that Transport Canada lifted the vaccination mandate one month later, on June 20, 2022.
Sincere religious belief
The arbitrator applied the test for religious freedom outlined in Syndicat Northcrest v. Amselem, which requires that a belief be sincerely held and have a nexus with religion that calls for a particular line of conduct. While religious beliefs do not need to be widely shared or officially recognized by a religious authority, they must be more than personal preferences or opinions.
The arbitrator found that the grievors’ beliefs did not meet this standard. The evidence showed that their objections to vaccination were primarily based on personal and political views, rather than religious doctrine.
While the grievors cited concerns about the use of fetal cell lines in vaccine development, the arbitrator noted that they provided no credible evidence to support this claim. Furthermore, their stated belief that their bodies were temples of the Holy Spirit was not consistently applied, as they had previously received vaccines and used substances such as alcohol and tobacco.
“Receiving a vaccination has nothing to do with participating in or supporting abortion,” the arbitrator wrote, adding that the grievors’ concerns about bodily harm from vaccination were more akin to personal risk assessments than religious imperatives.
The arbitrator also noted that one of the pilots, W.B., had initially framed his opposition to vaccination in terms of government overreach, constitutional rights, and vaccine efficacy concerns. He only invoked religious grounds after realizing that other arguments were unlikely to succeed.
“B.W. turned to religious belief as a last resort when nothing else worked,” the arbitrator found, concluding that his claim lacked sincerity.
Just cause for termination
In upholding the dismissals, the arbitrator found that Perimeter Aviation had just cause to terminate the pilots’ employment after they refused to comply with the vaccination policy.
The union argued that a less severe penalty, such as extending unpaid leave, would have been appropriate, particularly given that the federal mandate was lifted a month after the terminations. However, the arbitrator rejected this reasoning, emphasizing that the employer could only make decisions based on the information available at the time.
“The course of the pandemic was unpredictable, with the degree of risk increasing and abating and frequently evolving,” the arbitrator wrote, citing City of Calgary and ATU, Local 583 as precedent. “An employer is not required to leave a non-compliant employee on a leave of absence indefinitely.”
The arbitrator also pointed to other cases where terminations for vaccine non-compliance were upheld, including Fraser Health Authority and BCGEU, where an employee was terminated for failing to comply with a similar policy.
The pilots were on unpaid leave for six months before their terminations, and they were given a final warning on May 12, 2022, instructing them to comply with the policy or face dismissal. “They had ample opportunity to make themselves eligible,” the arbitrator ruled, rejecting the union’s claim that the terminations were premature.
For more information, see Perimeter Aviation LP v Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA), 2025 CanLII 17247 (CA LA).
