Long-time RN felt coerced into taking vaccine, refused second dose
A B.C. nurse who refused a second COVID-19 vaccine dose saw a tribunal accept that her objection could count as a genuine political belief — but she still lost her job.
On June 24, 2026, tribunal member Theressa Etmanski of the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal dismissed the complaint brought by a registered nurse against Interior Health Authority. The nurse, who had worked for the authority for roughly 22 years, was terminated in December 2021 after declining a second vaccine dose required under a provincial public health order.
Etmanski found the complaint had no reasonable prospect of success.
In October 2021, British Columbia's provincial health officer, Bonnie Henry, issued an order requiring health care workers to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, which generally meant two doses. The order applied across Interior Health and other provincial health authorities, with exemptions only for those who qualified medically.
The nurse had received her first dose in late September 2021. She said she felt coerced into it and agreed only out of fear of the employment consequences of refusing. She declined the second dose by the mid-November deadline.
Interior Health had already placed her on unpaid leave that October, a decision she says she successfully grieved.
At a late-November meeting, she was told her employment would end if she did not get the second dose...
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