COVID-based human rights cases dismissed 90 per cent of the time: data

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Human rights complaints regarding COVID-19 public health measures in Alberta were dismissed more than 90 per cent of the time, according to data compiled by Postmedia.

The figures measure the nature and outcome of 240 published decisions from the Alberta Human Rights Commission (AHRC) over a 21-month period from Jan. 1, 2023 to Oct. 1, 2024.

Those decisions include rulings on complaints, appeals of a prior ruling to dismiss a complaint, and other more technical interim or evidentiary rulings.

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Of the 172 rulings and appeals, 41 involved complaints around COVID-19 public health measures: two rulings and 39 appeals.

All but three of those complaints, or 93 per cent, were dismissed. That figure compares to a dismissal rate of 81 per cent for all rulings and appeals, regardless of subject matter.

Twenty-seven of the COVID-19 complaints were regarding vaccination or vaccination mandates, 13 were about masking rules, and one was about educational supports.

Such complaints are adjudicated by how they measure up against the Alberta Human Rights Act.

‘Must do more than identify a particular belief’

Twenty-six of those complaints alleged discrimination based on religion, with most complainants arguing that their religion prevented them from being vaccinated, with many of those citing how some vaccines are made by growing the vaccine viruses in human fetal cell lines.

Those arguments often failed because the complainants were unable to cite how their religion bans vaccinations.

“An individual must do more than identify a particular belief, claiming that it is sincerely held, and claim that it is religious in nature. This is not sufficient to assert discrimination,” reads a paragraph common to several of those rulings.

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“They must provide a sufficient objective basis to establish that the belief is a tenet of a religious faith and that it is a fundamental or important part of expressing that faith.”

Rulings often found that such objections were based more on personal convictions than tenets of faith.

Some complainants took more novel approaches.

One individual stated that being forced to wear a mask by his trucking company employer violated his polyamorous lifestyle. He further claimed that masks were satanic and “a visible signal that disrespects his faith or shows an outward disconnection to God.”

A City of Edmonton employee argued that a religion he founded in 2018, the Fellowship of the Wolf, did not allow him to be vaccinated. The AHRC ruled there was nothing in the religion’s doctrine requiring adherents to decline vaccinations.

Three cases upheld

Two of the three upheld COVID complaints are still awaiting a final outcome.

One of those is a complaint against an engineering firm about masking rules that was sent for a full hearing after initially being dismissed for being filed outside the one-year limitation period.

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Another is a complaint against a construction company and its mandatory vaccination policy. The complainant argued his religion prevented him from being vaccinated.

He agreed to COVID testing requirement as the complaint progressed but was later laid off. The AHRC ruled only a full hearing could determine if his religion had been a factor in his eventual dismissal.

A final complaint about a deaf person who needed to read lips to communicate with the staff of a cellphone store but wasn’t allowed inside the store due to its masking policy.

That complaint was sent back for a full hearing where it was ultimately dismissed.

In her early days as premier in late 2022, Premier Danielle Smith had pledged to amend the Alberta Human Rights Act to include vaccination status.

She has since backed off of that promise but has announced her government will be updating the province’s Bill of Rights — a non-constitutional document — to affirm the right to make one’s own choices over vaccinations and all medical decisions.

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