Former Fredericton Firefighter Sues City For Lost Benefits After Quitting Over COVID Vaccine Policy

A health-care worker prepares a dose Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at the Michener Institute in Toronto on Dec.14, 2020. (Carlos Osorio/AFP via Getty Images)

A former Fredericton firefighter is suing the city after he quit his job over a COVID-19 vaccine policy, saying he was advised he would receive severance pay and pension benefits if he resigned.

Gregory Billings filed the lawsuit in the Fredericton Court of King’s Bench in New Brunswick on Dec. 14, according to CBC News.

Mr. Billings is seeking about $280,000 as a payment in lieu of notice of termination. He is also asking the court for damages to cover his loss of pension and earnings.

Additionally, he has named his former union in the suit, alleging the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 1053 failed to represent him properly, the media report said.

The Epoch Times reached out to Mr. Billings’ attorney, the City of Fredericton, and the union, but did not hear back by publication time.

Medical Professionals Fight Wrongful Dismissal

Mr. Billings is not the only Canadian to legally challenge decisions made during the pandemic that impacted their professional jobs.

Dr. Kulvinder Kaur Gill, a physician who challenged the government’s public health restrictions online, faced disciplinary action by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO).

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A Notice of Hearing against Dr. Gill dated Oct. 13, 2022, alleged that roughly between February 2021 and 2022, she had engaged in “disgraceful, dishonourable or unprofessional conduct” on social media, online, and on other digital platforms. This includes “making misleading, false or inflammatory statements about vaccinations, treatments and public health measures for COVID-19.”

The allegations against Dr. Gill were dropped in September, but three other Ontario doctors were suspended for questioning public health orders.

Dr. Crystal Luchkiw and Dr. Patrick Phillips went through a disciplinary tribunal, while Dr. Mark Trozzi is determined to take his case to the Supreme Court if necessary, according to his lawyer Michael Alexander.

“What’s at stake here is not one doctor’s right to express himself on issues related to COVID,” Mr. Alexander said. “The question is, are we going to allow state censorship in the country?”

Dr. Phillips was permanently suspended by the CPSO, ruling him “incompetent” and saying he undermined the public health response to COVID-19.

On June 6, 2023, the tribunal found that Phillips “engaged in disgraceful, dishonourable or unprofessional conduct, failed to maintain the standard of practice of the profession, [and] failed to respond appropriately or within a reasonable time to a written inquiry from the College.”

Mr. Phillips told The Epoch Times in June the cost of challenging the decision was too much.

He said to challenge the CPSO’s ruling, which he would have been “guaranteed to lose,” he would have had to pay $10,000 per day for a trial. He also said he decided to move on because the “last few years have made me miserable.”

BC Class-Action Lawsuit

A class-action lawsuit has been filed in the B.C. courts on behalf of unionized public service workers. 

The BCPS Employees for Freedom Society said union member Jason Baldwin filed the lawsuit and is asking the courts to certify it as a class action on behalf of all public service employees impacted by public health orders and the provincial vaccine mandate.

The case names the Province of B.C. and Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry as defendants.

Andrew Chen, Tara MacIsaac and Matthew Horwood contributed to this report.