Employment lawyer weighs in on maskless teacher
An itinerant music teacher at at St. Charles Catholic School in Toronto has been charged by the Ministry of Labour for failing to wear a mask.
Employment and labour lawyer Sunira Chaudhri said firing the teacher may not be so cut and dry.
What do you think of this case?
“Aside from the school protocol requiring teachers to wear masks, this is a legal protocol. If you are working in an indoor space where you can’t social distance, it’s a requirement that you are wearing masks indoors. This creates liability for the school, for the board, when you have an adult teaching children and not taking the precautions, especially in light of cases going up in Ontario. I would shocked if the school did not take serious disciplinary measures against this teacher. It could be a possibility that this teacher may not be able to teach in person if they continue to flout the rules.”
The Ministry of Labour (MOL) didn’t take any action against the school and the school board. Is that surprising?
“I’m shocked to see the school and/or the school board were not also charged. Surely, this came to the attention of the school that he wasn’t following mask guidelines. Usually, calling the MOL is a last-resort measure. People often do that when they’re not seeing change. This could be a parent calling in or a teacher. Did the school take swift measures? It’s not just an obligation to keep the children safe, the school also has an obligation to keep the workplace safe for all other employees. If the MOL had to investigate a private employer and employees that were flouting the rules, those employees might be sanctioned.”
Can the teacher be fired?
“The question is, is this teacher represented by a union? I imagine this teacher might be. If there was a time for the union to not back an employee if they were terminated, this would be that case. I think what my sense is, the board might very well be cautious about making an example out of any employee that fails to wear a mask for certain period of time, because that could create a slippery slope requiring the board to fire everybody who fails to wear a mask. I’m positive the board and schools are going to be very careful to impose very heavy sanctions when they’re already experiencing a crunch with available teachers.”
*Answers have been edited for length