Witness Testimony

Suzanne Brauti testified that she began working for the federal government in July 2019 after overcoming significant personal and medical challenges as a single mother of three. During the pandemic, she completed her training remotely and worked from home for approximately one year. When the federal COVID-19 vaccine policy was implemented on October 29, 2021, she submitted multiple affidavits requesting a religious accommodation. Despite three submissions and participation in additional meetings, her request was denied in March 2022 after she had already been placed on leave without pay.
She applied for Employment Insurance and was initially denied, first on the basis that she voluntarily left her employment and later for alleged misconduct. She appealed to the Social Security Tribunal and testified that she ultimately succeeded after nine months, based on the timing of her employer’s decision. She also filed a Privacy Act request and received approximately 800 pages of correspondence, which she stated revealed inconsistencies, premature assumptions about placing her on unpaid leave, and what she perceived to be inadequate consideration of her accommodation request. She subsequently filed a human rights complaint, alleging discriminatory treatment related to her Métis identity and the handling of Indigenous-related considerations in the accommodation process.
Brauti described significant emotional, financial, and professional consequences, including the loss of her employment, depletion of savings, sale of property, ongoing debt, and strain on her family. After federal mandates were lifted in July 2022, she was informed she would need to reapply and undergo the hiring process again rather than being reinstated. She stated that she believed remote work could have been reasonably accommodated and that the employer failed to demonstrate undue hardship in denying her request.