Vaccine backlash: Calgary oil giant facing dozens of lawsuits from former employees over COVID-19 shot
He began as a mechanic, eventually being promoted to foreman. Rick Ducharme spent the last 15 years working for oil and gas giant Canadian Natural Resources Ltd.
He made roughly $150,000 a year, plus benefits and bonuses.
"I loved it," says the 55-year-old, who lives in Bonnyville, Alta., a community north of Edmonton where the majority of the people make their living from CNRL, either directly or indirectly.
"It was very challenging, very fast paced, (there were) good people to work with and it was close to home, I got home every night, it was a great job."
But Ducharme no longer has that job after he was cut loose by the company because he refused to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
He's now suing CNRL for wrongful dismissal, as are dozens of other former employees who lost their livelihoods for the same reason.
"I feel that it's beyond immoral what they've done," says Ducharme, "what they've done is cruel, they've punished a lot of people they should not have punished, there is a lot of people who are hurting from this and I wish they would've rethought their approach to this."
CNRL is a massive oil producer, with more than 9,000 employees around the world and its value just surpassed $100 billion for the first time.
But, it's also facing a revolt from staff who wouldn't get vaccinated. Many are suing for lost wages and benefits, in some cases demanding well over $1 million each, reflecting the high salaries common in the industry.
Legal experts say the energy sector is only one area seeing potential litigation from employees who refused to get their shots.
"Ultimately, it comes down to how the courts are going to view their vaccine mandates in the future," says Sarah Coderre, with Bow River Employment Law. "It's the wild west so to speak, we don't really know how the courts will view these things in the future or how they're starting to look at these things."
CNRL refused to be interviewed or this story but former employees tell CTV News it recently dropped its vaccine mandate for staff and is offering jobs back to people who lost them, at the same wages with possible bonuses, though no back pay is being offered for the time away due to the vaccine requirement.
Coderre says lawsuits such as this could drag through the courts for up to five years, eating up a lot of time and money.
"It all comes down to risk management in the vast majority of cases," she says. "It's got to be in both parties, employer and employees interest, to resolve the matter before trial. Cases like this in particular are risky for both sides, there are strong public policy arguments that can be made on both sides of the case why it was a wrongful dismissal or a justified termination."
Ducharme says he was offered his job back but won't take it. He says he no longer trusts the company and will find work elsewhere.
"I have my skill set that they can't take away, and I have my ambitions that they can't take away and I will find a way to proceed," he says.
Ducharme doesn't appear to be alone in his litigation. Even though CNRL began offering jobs back to people in March, several more wrongful dismissal lawsuits against the company have been filed since then.
None of the allegations in the lawsuits have been tested in court.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.7010835.1724357828!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
BREAKING Federal government to intervene in rail labour dispute, force binding arbitration
Canada's Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon is intervening to end a work stoppage that saw this country's two largest railways grind to a standstill Thursday, by forcing the parties into binding arbitration.
LIVE UPDATES Final day of the DNC: Kamala Harris to accept the party's nomination
On the final night of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris is set to accept the party's nomination for president on Thursday.
Remains of missing Markham woman found in Parry Sound: police
York Regional Police say that human remains discovered in Parry Sound more than a week ago are those of a missing Markham woman. Yuk-Ying Anita Mui was first reported missing by her family on Aug. 9. Three days later on Aug. 12, OPP located burned human remains, which have since been confirmed to be those of Mui, police said.
Toronto Zoo's red panda who gave surprise birth to two cubs in June dies
A 10-year-old female red panda who recently gave birth to two cubs at the Toronto Zoo in June has died.
TikTok has fallen hard for yet another grocery store staple
How does a piece of produce go viral?
German warship blasts Darth Vader anthem in heart of London. 'No deeper message,' navy says
Germany's navy says there was "no deeper message” in the choice to blast the famed Imperial March — Darth Vader's theme song in the “Star Wars” films — from one of its warships as it cruised down the River Thames through London this week.
Health minister puts nicotine pouches behind the counter, bans flavours
Health Minister Mark Holland is putting Health Canada-approved nicotine pouches behind pharmacy counters starting next week as part of his crackdown on the sale of new nicotine products to children.
RCMP working with international police amid new slew of threats targeting synagogues
Mounties say they are responding to additional bomb threats made across Canada today that they believe are linked to similar threats made the day before.
Methamphetamine disguised as shipment of watermelons seized at U.S.-Mexico border
A truckload of methamphetamine disguised as a shipment of watermelons was seized at a U.S.-Mexico border crossing in San Diego, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said.