Mediation is set to begin between SA Health and former employees who refused to take the Covid-19 vaccine

Mediation between SA Health and employees who joined a class-action lawsuit over mandatory Covid vaccine rules will begin today.

Mediation is due to start on Monday between SA Health and members of a class-action lawsuit fighting suspension and termination for refusing to take the Covid-19 vaccine.

The group lost its case in the SA Employment Tribunal but launched an appeal, and the parties have been ordered to try to find common ground before it proceeds further.

As revealed by The Advertiser, more than 230 SA Health staff have been sacked since October 2021 for refusing the Covid-19 vaccination.

SA Health is maintaining its policy on mandatory vaccinations despite the rule being dropped by some interstate jurisdictions. Health Minister Chris Picton has ordered a review.

A class action by around 170 people lost a SA Employment Tribunal case over the policy, with tribunal president Justice Dolphin last September ruling “the mandate within the policy is a lawful and reasonable direction”.

Justice Dolphin noted at that time there were an estimated 657 SA Health workers absent from their jobs due to noncompliance with the policy.

However SA Health says the majority of these workers now have been redeployed, resigned or did not have contracts renewed, while about 30 still absent face disciplinary action if not vaccinated when they return to work.

Mediation is due to start on Monday between SA Health and members of a class-action lawsuit fighting suspension and termination for refusing to take the Covid-19 vaccine. Picture, AFP.

The mediation comes shortly after a separate tribunal ruling overturned rejection of a man’s claim for workers compensation due to suffering serious heart problems after a mandatory Covid booster injection.

Daniel Shepherd, 44, a married father of a five-year-old, suffered such severe pain he thought he was having a heart attack and was rushed by ambulance to Ashford Hospital and diagnosed with post-vaccine pericarditis, an inflammation of the membrane surrounding the heart.

His employer the Department for Child Protection conceded the pericarditis was caused by the booster vaccination but rejected his workers compensation bid, arguing it was the lawful government vaccination directive that caused the injury and liability was excluded under the Emergency Management Act.

SAET deputy president Judge Mark Calligeros rejected those arguments, noting workers compensation liabilities are well understood in South Australia.

“It is not surprising that some people who receive a dose of Covid-19 vaccine will sustain injury as a result,” he wrote in his judgement.

“The cardiological opinions in this case support that assumption.

“It would be astonishing if parliament intended that an employee of the State, injured adhering to an EM Act direction, was to be precluded from receiving workers compensation.”

He ordered Mr Shepherd receive weekly income support payments and payment of medical expenses.