Dale Dreyden will again approach The Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) following the ruling of an unfair dismissal dispute with Wellington lawyer Duncan Korabie.
The 26-year-old was formally employed by Korabie as a candidate attorney until his dismissal based on the law firm’s alleged arbitrary vaccine policy.
He claims the CCMA is corrupt and that his case was argued on unfair grounds. “I am in the process of preparing a letter to the CCMA in which I highlight my experience with the entity, step by step,” Dreyden said.
As reported last week in a daily newspaper, the dismissal was based on Dreyden’s refusal to take the Covid-19 vaccine, as insisted on by his former employer, Korabie. Although the CCMA ruled the grounds for dismissal were fair, it also acknowledged the procedure by which Dreyden was dismissed was not.
Korabie’s insistence that his employees be vaccinated followed his personal diagnosis of Addison’s disease after he had collapsed due to organ failure in 2019.
Addison’s disease is a life-threatening illness and a rare long-term endocrine disorder. It’s caused by inadequate production of the steroid hormones cortisol and aldosterone by the two outer layers of the cells of the adrenal glands, causing a lack of adrenaline which weakens the body.
He announced a vaccine policy aimed at employees on 15 January 2021 as soon as vaccines were readily available. It stipulated disciplinary action would be taken against those who refuse which would amount to dismissal.
Due to increasing evidence that the vaccine does not protect against transmission or contraction of Covid-19, as initially suggested, Dreyden argued that he would not need the jab if Korabie had already been vaccinated.
Two commissioners of the CCMA, Winnie Everett and Laurie Warwick, said this was among the circumstances considered in the dispute between Korabie and Dreyden.
Furthermore, Korabie’s testimony detailing his employees could not work from home due to cyber security risks, was also considered.
In 2019 the firm suffered four cyber attacks on its computer system and Korabie argued that he had to increase security measures.
Dreyden worked as candidate attorney for the firm while he was completing his studies. He confirmed he has since graduated as a lawyer.
An original agreement was made that Dreyden would work without payment, however another agreement was later made to compensate him with R2 000 per month, which was later increased to R2 500.
Korabie received his second Pfizer jab in August 2021, at which time the vaccine was also made available to people aged 18 to 35 years old.
On 20 August he sent out a WhatsApp message to all employees stating they had five days to prove they had been registered for vaccination and a further 10 days to prove their vaccination status.
In a WhatsApp reply Dreyden said he would not be vaccinated, which was followed by his dismissal.
He argued that he was dismissed unfairly since he was not approached with disciplinary steps as outlined in the Directive enabling employers to institute mandatory vaccine policies.
The CCMA in its findings stated there is no law that empowers employers to dismiss employees for not being vaccinated, the same as there is no law that an employee should be dismissed for committing fraud.
A dismissal may follow based on the employee’s behaviour, granted a fair process was followed.
It also found that Dreyden did not supply clear reasons for not wanting the vaccine, except for basing his case on the right to bodily integrity.
The CCMA ruled that Korabie had legitimate concerns in that he could die due to infection from Covid-19, and that this outweighed the arguments submitted by Dreyden.
Korabie did, however, dismiss Dreyden without due process and had to compensate a claim of R4 809.
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Source: Netwerk24
