Worker assigned to help answer questions about who qualified for pandemic emergency benefit

He was assigned to help answer questions about who qualified for a pandemic emergency benefit. A labour board found he deliberately misrepresented his own situation to collect that same benefit, and the Federal Court of Appeal has now refused to disturb that ruling.

Justice Mary J.L. Gleason delivered the decision from the bench on Oct. 1, 2026, on behalf of a three-judge panel that also included Justices Biringer and Rochester.

The panel dismissed the former employee's challenge to a Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board decision, in a case against the Attorney General of Canada. Costs were set at an all-inclusive, agreed-upon $2,500.

COVID benefits

The employee became an indeterminate employee at Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) in 2020. When COVID-19 hit, he was placed on the department's emergency response team, which gave advice about who was entitled to the Employment Insurance Emergency Response Benefit (EI-ERB).

According to the court's summary of the facts, ESDC discovered that he had applied for and received EI-ERB payments that he was not entitled to. The court's reasons say he gave false information several times in the online application, stating he was unemployed while he was actually working at ESDC.

In June 2021, his reliability status was revoked. That led to the end of his employment under the Financial Administration Act. He...

Read Full Story: https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMizAFBVV95cUxNcUp0M0tqT0NSdmtReGxzUkNU...