A Polish court has ruled in favour of a Canadian embassy employee who was put on leave without pay for refusing mandatory COVID-19 vaccination.
Karolina Janiak, a Polish citizen who had worked at the Warsaw embassy since 2005 as a locally engaged member of staff, sued her employer when she was unilaterally placed on leave without pay in 2021 for not complying with the mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy.
Weeks earlier, the federal government had announced the COVID-19 vaccine mandate across the public service and in federally regulated workplaces.
Janiak had sought a medical exemption. Before she could secure it, her salary was withheld starting in December 2021.
Janiak resigned from the embassy in February 2022 and filed her lawsuit in April of that year.
The District Court for Warsaw-Śródmieście issued a ruling in the case in late June of this year, which was obtained by The Epoch Times.
The court did not issue an opinion on mandatory vaccination but ruled that the Canadian embassy broke Polish law by placing Janiak on leave without pay.
“The question of whether or not the plaintiff should have been vaccinated was, for the court in these specific proceedings, a secondary issue,” Judge Adam Prószyński said in his decision.
He added that it’s “clear and obvious” to the court that Janiak should not have been placed on leave without pay.
“Polish law does not recognize an institution such as a unilateral decision by an employer to place an employee on any form of unpaid leave without retaining the right to remuneration,” said Prószyński.
Global Affairs Canada was contacted for comment but did not respond by publication time.
The Canadian embassy unsuccessfully sought to have the lawsuit dismissed on procedural grounds and on merit.
The embassy argued it had jurisdictional immunity under international law and lacked the legal capacity to be a party to the proceedings.
Janiak had been advised she was being placed on leave without pay via a letter from then-Canadian Ambassador to Poland Leslie Scanlon, who said it was “clear that vaccines are the best way to bring this pandemic to an end.”
A lawyer for the embassy argued before the case began in March 2022 that Janiak was solely responsible for being placed on leave because she chose not to comply with the vaccination policy.
The court has ordered the Canadian embassy in Warsaw to pay Janiak over CA$45,000 for remuneration, compensation, leave allowance, and severance pay. The court also ordered an immediately enforceable payment of around $7,300 for accrued vacation pay.
The embassy also has to reimburse around $3,700 for Janiak’s legal fees and $4,200 to the State Treasury for unpaid court costs.
“These amounts were not, essentially, contested by the defendant, nor did they raise any doubts for the court regarding the correctness of their calculation,” said Judge Prószyński.
Janiak told The Epoch Times she received the $7,300 payment on July 8—16 days after the required date. She suggested the legal costs incurred by Ottawa to fight her claim in court “exceeded by many times the amount of due compensation.”
The Canadian embassy hired the Wardynski Partners law firm for the case. The Epoch Times reached out to the firm for comment but didn’t hear back by publication time.
The government received 2,598 requests for accommodation on religious or medical grounds and granted 993.
United Civil Servants, a group challenging the mandates in court, says the 2,108 federal employees placed on leave do not tell the full story. Bernard Desgagnés, the group’s coordinator, told The Epoch Times that an “important number” quit their jobs or retired to avoid the vaccination mandate.
The group has filed two applications for leave to appeal with the Supreme Court of Canada. It is asking the top court to determine which court has the jurisdiction to hear cases related to allegations of Section 7 Charter violations, which pertain to the right to life, liberty, and security of the person. Desgagnés said lower courts have declined jurisdiction.
