If you were a public servant working for the federal department responsible for CERB, you shouldn’t have applied for the $2,000-per-month pandemic benefit — seven times.
That’s a lesson that Jacqueline Byrne, a former Service Canada benefits officer at Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), learned the hard way from a federal labour relations board.
In a ruling earlier this year, the Federal Public Service Labour Relations and Employment Board (FPSLREB) confirmed that the government was right to revoke Byrne’s security clearance — effectively firing her — after she received $14,000 in Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) payments.
Byrne’s case appears to be the first ruling on a grievance filed by a bureaucrat opposing their firing for receiving CERB while working in the public service.
In a statement provided by her lawyer, Byrne said the decision was “very disappointing” and failed to consider the hectic and confusing atmosphere early in the pandemic.
“The CERB was rolled out very quickly and many people were confused about it, including myself. I was also living through a terrible time with the deaths of both of my parents during the pandemic. This was the worst time of my life and I feel like ESDC and the Board didn’t have any empathy for my situation whatsoever,” she wrote.
When the pandemic began in 2020, Byrne was working full-time for the department that was responsible for CERB. In fact, Byrne’s job as an “experienced” benefits officer was to ascertain applicants’ eligibility for Employment Insurance, the ruling says.
You dipped into the fund seven times.
Enough already.
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