A Canada Revenue Agency employee found ineligible for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit has lost his Federal Court bid to overturn the decision.
Montreal’s Todd Archer asked a judge to review the CRA agent’s Jan. 17 decision that found him ineligible for the benefit widely known as CERB because he had not stopped working for 14 consecutive days for reasons related to COVID-19.
“The facts of this case are somewhat unusual in that Mr. Archer, who seeks to challenge a CRA decision related to his CERB eligibility, is also a CRA employee whose responsibilities have included answering calls from taxpayers on COVID-19 benefits,” Justice Angus Grant said in his recent decision.
The judge dismissed Archer’s application.
“It was reasonable, based on the minimal medical documentation provided by (Archer), and based on the applicable law, for the CRA to conclude that the applicant was not eligible for the benefits that he had received,” Grant wrote in his decision dated Oct. 11.
“The CRA agent’s reasoning was rational, transparent, and justified. Considering the deference owed in these circumstances, there are no errors warranting judicial intervention.”
The federal government introduced CERB in 2020, offering financial support to workers who lost income or jobs because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The CRA administered the program. Earlier this week, the agency said it had terminated 330 employees for inappropriately receiving the benefit during the pandemic.
It was available for seven four-week periods between March 15, 2020, and Sept. 26, 2020.
Those eligible received $2,000 over a four-week period.
People were eligible if they stopped working “for reasons related to COVID-19 for at least 14 consecutive days” within one of the designated four-week periods.
Archer applied for and received the benefit on Sept. 11, 2020, for the period running from Aug. 30, 2020, until Sept 26, 2020.
“At some point before August 31, 2020, (Archer) had an appointment with his doctor. Though he could not recall why he had made an appointment, the applicant did have an underlying respiratory condition and, ‘in the context of COVID-19,’ he was prescribed some medication. There is no indication in the record what this medication was. However, after taking it, Mr. Archer started experiencing side effects and became unwell,” said the decision.
On Aug. 31, 2020, Archer, who was working remotely, worked for two hours and 15 minutes before taking sick leave without pay until Sept. 13, 2020.
His doctor issued a handwritten note dated Sept. 4, 2020, indicating that Archer should be able to return to work Sept. 14, 2020, said the decision. “The note does not reference COVID-19, or why Mr. Archer was directed to take the medication.”
Archer returned to work Sept. 14, 2020. His “file was selected for an eligibility review under the CRA’s review program for employees who claimed COVID-19 benefits while working for the CRA,” said the decision.
The agency reviewed Archer’s claim three times.
On Jan. 4, the agent conducting the third review contacted Archer by phone.
During their conversation, Archer told the agent he was at work on the morning of Aug. 31, 2020, “but felt ill from the side-effects of a medication he took earlier, which made him leave work for the rest of the day.”
Archer said he got a note from his doctor “stating that he will be out of the office until September 14th, 2020, at which time the doctor would reevaluate (his) condition.”
He told the agent he “was not sick because of COVID-19, and he has not been in contact with COVID-19,” and that he had “no more paid sick days, so he had to take a leave without pay starting in the morning of August 31st, 2020, to September 14th, 2020.”
The agent informed Archer in a Jan. 17 letter “that he was not eligible for Period 7 of the CERB, because he did not stop working or have his hours reduced for reasons related to COVID-19 for a 14-day consecutive period within the four-week application period.”
The agent noted Archer “did not have COVID and was not exposed to COVID, and that the medication Mr. Archer took was voluntary, precautionary, and preventative.”
The agent concluded that taking the medication as a precautionary measure was Archer’s choice “and not a loss or reduction of employment hours directed related to pandemic.”
The judge disagreed with Archer’s “submission that the CRA agent erred in finding that his reasons for stopping work did not fall within the range of ‘reasons related to COVID-19.’ Respectfully, the applicant has failed to demonstrate a reviewable error and his submissions amount to a request for me to reweigh the evidence that was before the agent. This is not the role of a court on judicial review. The CRA agent’s reasons were intelligible, rational, and justified.”
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