Former Fredericton firefighter who resigned over COVID vaccine policy sues city

A former Fredericton firefighter who resigned because of a COVID-19 vaccine policy for city employees is suing his former employer, claiming he was wrongly advised he’d be entitled to severance pay and pension benefits even if he quit.

Gregory Billings is now seeking $280,000 for pay in lieu of notice of termination, as well as damages for loss of pension and earnings up to his expected retirement at the age of 65.

Billings also alleges the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 1053, his former union, failed to properly represent him by not grieving his “wrongfully induced” resignation.

“The plaintiff relied on the misrepresentations of the City of Fredericton that retirement was being offered to him and suffered damages as a result through loss of his severance pay and loss of a portion of his pension,” states the claim, filed in the Fredericton Court of King’s Bench by Jonathan Martin, the lawyer representing Billings.

None of the allegations in the lawsuit filed on Dec. 14 has been tested in court, and neither the city nor the union has filed statements of defence.

CBC News asked for interviews with the City of Fredericton and the firefighters’ union.

City spokesperson Elizabeth Fraser, in an email, said the city will not comment on it as the matter is before the courts.

CBC News did not receive a response from the union.

Suspension preceded resignation

According to Billings’s claim, he was a 21-year member of the Fredericton Fire Department and held the role of captain of the fire prevention division when he resigned on or around Dec. 15, 2021.

Including overtime, he was earning approximately $140,000 annually.

According to the claim, issues between Billings and his employer began on Sep. 3, 2021, when he was sent home without pay in response to his refusal to comply with masking and testing protocols for unvaccinated staff.

On or around Oct. 15, 2021, the department notified Billings that if he continued not to comply, they would take steps to hire his permanent replacement, and that the union had approved his dismissal.

The following day, the fire department posted Billings’s job as a vacant position to be filled, according to the claim.

The following week, Billings returned to work and obeyed the masking and testing protocols, but “promptly” thereafter was suspended for a day without pay over his alleged continual noncompliance with the protocols and for speaking with the media, according to the claim.

On or around Oct. 29, 2021, the department introduced a new COVID policy stating if staff were not fully vaccinated by Dec. 17, they would be suspended without pay or terminated.

The claim says that given his job had already been posted, Billings expected he would be fired if he did not get vaccinated against COVID-19, and that he continued to investigate his options, particularly whether resigning was better than getting fired.

The claim goes on to allege that around October and November 2021, Billings was “fraudulently or negligently misinformed” by city human resources staff that he would not be eligible for his severance pay if he was fired.

Alternatively, he was told that if he resigned, he would receive his retirement severance and pension benefits, according to the claim.

According to the claim, Billings relied on the “misrepresentations” by city staff when he resigned from his position on Dec. 15, 2021, with plans to collect his severance and deferred pension going forward.

“The plaintiff was subsequently informed in January 2022 that he was not eligible for his severance pay or deferred pension,” says the claim, adding that for this reason, he later exercised his only option of taking the commuted value of the pension.

Breach of contract also alleged

The claim also asserts that the “inducement” to opt for an early retirement rather than face termination was a contract made between the city and Billings, and that he only agreed to resign given the promise of accessing his retirement benefits.

“The City of Fredericton has breached the contract by refusing to provide the plaintiff with his retirement benefits and pension as promised in their agreement, and the plaintiff has suffered damages in the amount of his lost pension and severance as outlined in the collective agreement,” the claim states.

The claim also alleges once Billings learned he was wrongfully induced to resign, he asked the union to grieve his wrongful dismissal, but they decided against it.

The claim says if the union had grieved the termination, the likely outcome would have been a reinstatement, either with or without pay, until the vaccination policy was abandoned by the fire department “several months later.”

As a result of the allegations, Billings is seeking damages for loss of pension and earnings up to the age of 65, damages for pay in lieu of notice of termination, damages for loss of his pension to be proved at trial, prejudgment interest on the said sums, and costs to be determined by the court.