An Alberta Health Services employee will be allowed to appeal for EI benefits she was initially denied due to the alleged “misconduct” of refusing a COVID-19 vaccine.

Amanda Michaud, a biomedical equipment technologist with Alberta Health Services in Grande Prairie, was put on “unpaid leave” in late fall 2021 after she refused the COVID-19 vaccination mandated by her employer. Her application for EI benefits was denied.

On Nov. 9, 2022, the General Division of the Canada Employment Insurance Commission ruled Michaud committed “misconduct by” refusing the vaccine.