On March 13, 2026, the British Columbia Court of Appeal released Chao v. Hallmark Poultry Processors Ltd., unanimously dismissing an employee’s appeal and affirming that his employer had just cause to terminate an employee, without compensation, for violating a workplace COVID-19 safety policy.

Quick Hits

• In Chao v. Hallmark Poultry Processors Ltd., the British Columbia Court of Appeal unanimously upheld the termination for cause of a long-tenured employee who continued working for several hours after learning his roommate had tested positive for COVID-19, in violation of a known workplace safety policy.
• The decision reinforces that a single serious breach of a clearly communicated safety policy can constitute just cause for dismissal without notice, particularly where the conduct poses real risks in a safety-sensitive industry.
• The case also illustrates that well-documented workplace policies, thorough early-stage investigations that record the employee’s own account, and consistent enforcement create a termination record capable of surviving successive layers of administrative and judicial scrutiny.

The decision offers a useful reminder that well-documented safety policies, consistently enforced, can withstand scrutiny at every level of administrative and judicial review.

The Facts

Ken Kua Yung Chao worked as a packer for Hallmark Poultry Processors Ltd.for more than six years. During the pandemic, British Columbia’s poultry processing industry experienced several...

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