Ottawa fired Jacqueline Byrne after she received $14,000 in CERB despite working full-time at ESDC
The Federal Public Service Labour Relations and Employment Board (FPSLREB) has upheld the dismissal of Jacqueline Byrne, a former Service Canada benefits officer at Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC).
According to the National Post, Byrne claimed $14,000 in Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) payments while working full-time for the very department responsible for administering the program.
According to the ruling, Byrne applied for CERB seven times beginning March 15, 2020, despite being ineligible due to her continued federal employment.
At the time, Byrne’s duties involved assessing applicants’ eligibility for Employment Insurance.
Byrne argued she misunderstood the CERB eligibility requirements, which she described as “confusing.”
She claimed she believed the benefit applied to individuals who lost either employment or self-employment income.
The tribunal heard that Byrne had launched a small home crafts business in 2019 and expected her 2020 earnings would decline due to the pandemic.
However, the board found that Byrne’s craft business income increased during the period in question and concluded she was ineligible for the CERB.
“By the May 24 weekend she knew, or should have known, that she had not lost any self-employment income,” wrote board member Nancy Rosenberg.
She also noted Byrne’s craft income in May surpassed the $1,000 threshold, making her ineligible even without considering her government salary.
The decision stated Byrne contacted the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) helpline twice but “misled” agents by withholding her identity as a federal employee and falsely claiming a loss of business income.
Rosenberg wrote that Byrne “kept herself wilfully blind” to her ineligibility and presented herself in a way that allowed her to “maintain plausible deniability.”
Byrne testified that she rushed through the CERB attestation questions without fully engaging with them, likening the process to rote responses in EI applications.
Rosenberg described this explanation as “problematic on several levels.”
The tribunal also reviewed Byrne’s conduct during an ESDC investigation, where an investigator reported that she provided “misleading information.”
ESDC accused Byrne of fraud, while she admitted to “bad judgment” but said her actions reflected “wishful thinking.”
Byrne asked the board to consider her personal circumstances, including the deaths of both her parents during the pandemic.
In a statement provided by her lawyer, she called the ruling “very disappointing” and said it overlooked the stressful and confusing early months of 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,” Byrne said.
Rosenberg acknowledged the emotional toll Byrne experienced but wrote, “I cannot accept that her actions can be attributed to the medical crises that her family members were experiencing.”
The ruling noted that Byrne continued to work full-time, took no leave, volunteered for overtime, and expanded her craft business during that period.
The board also found Byrne submitted false information in a later job application to the CRA by failing to disclose her previous government security screening, which Rosenberg concluded was an attempt to conceal the revocation of her reliability status and dismissal from ESDC.
Her lawyer, Paul Champ, confirmed that Byrne no longer works for the CRA.
ESDC spokesperson Liana Brault stated that 56 employees were fired for claiming and receiving COVID-19 benefits while ineligible.
In September, accoridng to CBC News, 289 CRA employees were either terminated or resigned for similar reasons.
Byrne’s case is the first known decision involving a federal bureaucrat challenging their dismissal for claiming CERB while employed in the public service.
