Nova Scotia judge loses in court once again over COVID-19 vaccination status policy

HALIFAX — A Nova Scotia provincial court judge has lost again in court in a case that began over her refusal to disclose her COVID-19 vaccination status.

Judge Rickcola Brinton had been seeking a review of an October 2023 ruling by Chief Justice Michael Wood in his capacity as chair of the province’s judicial council.

Wood had dismissed Brinton’s complaint against former provincial court chief judge Pamela Williams, who had threatened her with suspension for choosing not to disclose her COVID-19 vaccination status.

In a decision released last week, Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice Christa Brothers ruled there was no breach of procedural fairness in the case and that Wood’s decision was reasonable. As well, Brothers concluded that Brinton’s complaint could not support a finding of judicial misconduct.

“Based on the case law, I have concluded that the applicant does not have standing to challenge the substantive decision reached by the chair (Wood),” Brothers wrote.

Wood’s decision to dismiss Brinton’s complaint bore “all the hallmarks of reasonableness — justification, transparency and intelligibility.”

Brinton filed the complaint in June 2023 alleging judicial misconduct by Williams, whose term as provincial court chief judge ended in August of that year. Her complaint said Williams applied undue pressure for her to disclose her vaccination status and that the former provincial chief judge improperly contacted Brinton’s physician to obtain medical details related to a subsequent short-term leave.

In the application to review Wood’s ruling, Brinton’s lawyers argued that the complaint was improperly handled and that she wasn’t given the chance to respond to the submissions used in the decision by Wood.

Wood had ruled that Williams’s assigning of judicial work, and her seeking information concerning a medical leave sought by Brinton, fell within her authority as chief judge.

Brothers noted that Brinton’s economic rights were not affected because she was never actually suspended. “The applicant continued to preside over cases in-person until she went on medical leave in October 2021. She has remained on medical leave since that time.”

Brothers stressed that her decision was not about the province’s vaccine mandate, even though some of Brinton’s arguments seemed geared toward that policy.

“The complainant conflates the misconduct decision with the decision by chief judge Williams to enact a vaccination policy. This policy or the decision to put one in place has never been the subject of a judicial review and is not before me.”

A separate civil lawsuit filed by Brinton against Williams and the provincial attorney general was struck down by the Nova Scotia Supreme Court in October.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 31, 2024.

Keith Doucette, The Canadian Press