- Parties: The applicant was Philip Davidson. The respondent was the Attorney General of Canada. 

- Subject Matter: The Canada Employment Insurance Commission refused the applicant’s application for employment insurance (EI) benefits. The Social Security Tribunal’s General Division (SST-GD) agreed with this decision and found that his employment had been suspended due to misconduct, specifically his non-compliance with his employer’s COVID-19 vaccination policy. The tribunal’s Appeal Division (SST-AD) refused to grant him leave to appeal the SST-GD’s decision. The applicant expressed his opposition to his employer’s policy requiring all employees to disclose their vaccination status and to be vaccinated, which was allegedly irrational and unnecessary, given that he worked remotely. He argued that the EI Commission and EI officers had been directed to deny EI benefits to claimants failing to adhere to their employers’ vaccination policies. 

- Ruling: The court ruled in the respondent’s favour and dismissed the application and the applicant’s motion for leave to admit new evidence. The court held that the SST-AD’s decision bore all the hallmarks of a reasonable decision. The court added that the SST-AD’s reasons to conclude that the appeal lacked chance of success were transparent, intelligible, and justifiable. The court saw no evidence of any breach of procedural fairness on the part of either the SST-AD or the SST-GD. 

- Date: The hearing was set on Nov. 15, 2023. The court released its decision on Nov. 23, 2023. 

- Venue: This was a federal case before the Federal Court. 

- Amount: The court awarded no costs.