Byron woman Lainie Chait claims The Church of Ubuntu unfairly fired her
A Byron Bay woman says she was fired from her job in the wellness industry after receiving the Covid-19 vaccine. She is now going after her former employer for damages.
Byron Shire
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A Byron Bay woman who says her work was terminated after she received a Covid-19 vaccination has taken her former employer to the Fair Work Commission.
Lainie Chait is seeking damages from The Church of Ubuntu, a wellness business based in Newcastle.
The business said in a letter to Ms Chait in October last year that receiving a Covid-19 vaccination “consciously and deliberately” was contrary to their views.
They have also said Ms Chait was never a formal employee but rather, a subcontractor.
Ms Chait said she was working remotely for The Church of Ubuntu as a care consultant.
Her role involved connecting people with the “right resources or guidance” after they first made contact with the company.
According to its website, The Church of Ubuntu helps people and animals “struggling with all kinds of significant physical and emotional health issues” through its Newcastle clinic.
Ms Chait claims she was unfairly dismissed on October 11 as a result of her decision to vaccinate.
She lodged a claim with Fair Work on October 28.
She said she came to the role with a background of wellness in the pursuit of her own health.
“I’ve been living with epilepsy for 30 something years and I decided when I was 28 that I didn’t want to go down the path of just the pharmaceutical, allopathic approach of dealing with it because it wasn’t working for me,” Ms Chait said.
“In 2000, the wellness industry was there but it wasn’t like it is now.”
She said she had to go down her own path of discovery to treat her “electric brain”.
“Ever since, I’ve been very drawn to industries like this because I know how empowering it is to be part of the solution to your problems,” she said.
She wrote a book about her journey and does stage shows under the Electro Girl name.
“I was drawn to (this organisation) because it was a way of being able to share my knowledge and experience through lived experience to help empower people,” she said.
Lainie’s decision to get the jab
Ms Chait said some of her reasons for getting a Covid vaccine were “selfish”.
“I wanted to travel and I was backed into a corner and I wanted to see my family and friends and I needed to cross borders to do that,” she said.
“It meant a lot to people around me that I did it as well.”
Soon afterwards, Barry Futter – the president of the Church of Ubuntu – sent a voice message to a group chat of employees, Ms Chait said.
“The voice file basically stated he had just found out I’d been vaccinated,” she said.
“That’s how I found out I was dismissed.”
Ms Chait said she tried to speak with him about the situation, to no avail.
“He wasn’t even interested,” she said.
The employment arrangement
In a statement, The Church of Ubuntu said Ms Chait was “a subcontractor hired on a week-to-week basis remotely” since October 2020 and “was never an employee”.
Lawyer Mark Swivel, representing Ms Chait, said the nature of her 12-month engagement with the company would be a key issue.
“The threshold issue is whether our client is an employee because the organisation would argue that they’re actually a contractor,” Ms Swivel said.
“That’s a very common dispute these days with the endless use of contract arrangements in the gig economy.
“We say this person looks like a duck, walks like a duck, it’s a duck.”
Ms Chait said she was aware she “didn’t sign any contracts” but she believed there was “mutual trust” in their agreement.
“I knew that there were holes in the arrangement but … I was working more than just a contractor,” she said.
“They paid me every week … so I didn’t look into it.
“They had the hours and I liked the work.”
The Fair Work action
Mr Swivel said a conciliation between the parties was scheduled for December 2.
No representative for the Church of Ubuntu showed up.
He said a further conciliation is expected to be scheduled.
“We’ve had no further correspondence from them,” Mr Swivel said.
He said although The Church of Ubuntu had expressed they believed his client had no case, he would proceed with the claim.
“Lainie worked for them because, among other things, she believed in what they were about, which was a positive approach to wellness and alternative healthcare,” Mr Swivel said.
“The basic assumption was the various choices made by people would be respected.”
He said his client’s decision to vaccinate was not respected.
“In the context of a pandemic when someone chooses to vaccinate when that’s the prevailing health advice from all authoritative sources it’s a huge stretch … to say that could be any basis for terminating a contract,” he said.
“The employer says they are “pro choice” not “anti-vax” but when Lainie made her choice to vaccinate they did not respect that choice and sacked her.”
Ms Chait is claiming damages for wages lost and separately seeking unpaid benefits.
“Wellness” out of step with science
Mr Swivel said his client’s situation demonstrated a “separatism” between a wellness business and mainstream public health.
“You’ve got a situation where an organisation that is in the wellness business is at odds with the health advice of all our public health bureaucracies, of all our mainstream medical associations,” he said.
“It’s not an alternative; it’s a completely separate system that denies the authority and the value of healthcare, medicine and the science informing it.”
He said Ms Chait’s was an unusual case.
“It’s one thing to see people expressing those views (about vaccination) casually online,” he said.
“It’s another thing to make a commercial decision that affects somebody’s livelihood.”
Ms Chait said she hoped her case would lead to discussion about the integrity of the wellness industry.
“It used to be that you got into the wellness industry to help people regardless of where they come from,” she said.
She said her dismissal demonstrated there was division coming from both sides of the vaccination debate.
“This particular company, I want them to understand … every choice has a consequence and I want them to understand that personal responsibility needs to be taken for such extreme choices,” she said.
The Church of Ubuntu’s position
The Church of Ubuntu team said in a statement Ms Chait was “offered alternative equivalent work through an affiliate” but declined this.
“Ms Chait can of course seek legal remedy if she wishes as in the alternative can the thousands and thousands of doctors, nurses, solicitors, healthcare workers and many other qualified professionals who have all had their jobs negatively impacted by choosing to not get the Covid-19 inoculation,” the statement said.
The statement referred to the NSW government’s vaccination mandates as “medical apartheid” which was “unconstitutional and undemocratic”.
In their letter to Ms Chait, they said she was “a highly valued and respected subcontractor”.
“Her dedication to clients and her support and assistance have been exemplary, her knowledge and skills in holistic health and wellbeing have been and continue to be highly appreciated by all those who she has and no doubt will continue to assist,” the letter said.
The letter said Ms Chait could “no longer be a full member of the Church of Ubuntu” as a consequence of her decision to receive a Covid-19 vaccination.
Have thousands been impacted by the vaccine mandates?
A NSW Health spokeswoman said a slim minority of staff had cited vaccination rules when leaving their roles.
“NSW Health can advise that of its entire workforce of about 170,000 people, approximately 0.2 per cent (325) have resigned due to their vaccination position as of December 23, 2021,” she said.
“Additionally, approximately 670 people (0.4 per cent) have now ceased employment with NSW Health due to their position in relation to the Covid-19 vaccine.”
The spokeswoman said those former employees were a combination of clinical and non-clinical staff.
“The importance of having our workforce vaccinated has never been more evident than during the current difficulties presented by the Omicron variant, particularly with the high number of Covid-19 cases in the community and subsequent presentations and admissions to our hospitals,” she said.
“Despite the significant pressure on the system our vaccinated healthcare workers are continuing to do incredible work in challenging circumstances.”
She said NSW Health had one of the most highly vaccinated workforces in the country.
The department was the first in Australia to introduce mandatory Covid vaccination for healthcare workers last August.
“To date, more than 98 per cent of NSW Health’s workforce has received two doses of the vaccine,” she said.
“Local health districts have considered each person’s particular circumstances and applied due process to those who are now no longer employed by NSW Health.
“Any vacancies arising due to staff members refusing a Covid-19 vaccine are prioritised for recruitment.”
The NSW Department of Education introduced a vaccine mandate for teachers and other school-based staff on November 8, in line with NSW public health orders.
“Vaccination remains our best way of keeping our community safe and protecting our work colleagues, students, families and friends,” a department spokesman said.
“The department will work with NSW Health to ensure teachers and school-based staff have sufficient time to obtain their boosters.”
The department hasn’t provided figures on staff who have had their employment impacted by a decision not to vaccinate.
But the spokesman said they don’t expect a significant impact on staff numbers.
“All staff now in the department are already fully vaccinated or have medical exemption,” he said.
“Since the requirement to be vaccinated was first raised last year, it has been clear that it is ultimately the individual’s choice as to whether they get vaccinated in order to continue working for the department.
“The department is working closely with NSW Health to finalise school settings for the start of the new school year, and detailed advice for Term 1 will be made available to school communities shortly.”
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