Class Actions in Employment Law

• Author: Michael D. Wright
• Pages: 541-560



Class Actions in

Employment Law

Michael D. Wright*

A. EMPLOYEE AND RETIREE CLAIMS AS

CLASS PROCEEDINGS

Thethree mainobject ivesofOntariosClass Proceedings Act are to

improveaccess to just iceto cr eatejudicia l economies and to modify

behaviourofactua lor potentialwrongdoers whomight otherwise be

temptedtoignore publicobligationsForemployeesand retirees who

donothavethebenetofaccesstothegrievanceandarbitrationmecha-

nismsavailabletoun ionizedemployeesclassproceedings oeravalu-

ableandversati lemeans ofaddressingi ssuesofbroad applicationin a

costeectivemannerAtthetimetheOntarioLawReformCommission

wascon sideringpotential class action legislation forO ntarioit noted

thatone ofthe advantagesofclass proceedings wouldbethe potential

usebynonunionizedemployeestopursueemploymentrelatedclaims

 MichaelDWrightisapartneratC avalluzzoHayesShiltonMcI ntyreCornis h

LLPMrWrightwouldliketoacknowledgeSi monArcherssubstantia lcontribu-

tionsasthi spaperdrawsuponsomeoftheworkfromanea rlierpaperwrien

withSimonArcherClas sProceedingsasaFrame workforEmployeeandRetiree

ClaimsCanClassActionRev

 SOcClassProceedingsAct

 Abdool v. Anaheim Management Ltd. ORdatDivCt

MDW

anexpandedcla ssactionprocedure mightbeutiliz edforexample

byemployeesnotother wisegoverned byUnioncontract sandthe at-

tendantgr ievanceproce duresfor abreach ofth eiremployment con-

tractthatiscommontonumerouse mployees

Classproceedings allowoneormorei ndividualstobringa nappli-

cation or action on behalf of a larger group of people where they all

shareat least onecommon issue This procedureper mitsa number of

modestsimilar claimswhich wouldotherwise betooexpe nsivetoliti-

gateindividually tobe advancedin asingle proceeding forthe benet

ofmanyA class action will becertiedi fthe pleadingsdisclose a

causeofact ionthereis anidentiableclas softwo ormorepersons

whoaretoberepresentedtheclaimsoftheclassmembersraisecom-

monbut notneces sarilyidenticalissues aclass proceeding is the

preferableprocedurefortheresolutionofthecommonissuesandthe

proposedc lassr epresentativewi llfa irlyand adequatelyrepre sentt he

interestsof the class hasa plan foradvancing the litigationa nddoes

nothaveaconictofinterestwithotherclassmembersTheexperience

withemployeeandretireeclaimsoverthepastseveralyearshasdemon-

stratedthatthisformofproceedi ngpermitsmeritoriousclaimstocome

forwardthatwouldotherwisenothavebeenp ossibleInthispaperthe

basicframeworkoftheseproceedingsisreviewed

Firstt hecontext uala ndnuanced approach to employmentissues

which Canadian court s have developed over the past decade is re-

viewedThisevolutionmakesclassproceedingsanexcellentmechanism

foradvancing a numberof these clai msbothfor employeesand retir-

eesSecond anumber ofthese substantiveclai msare discussed inthe

classproceedingcontextandanapproachtopursu ingandadjudicating

theseissuesisoutlinedThirdtheuseofclassproceedingstobringpen-

sionandbe netclaims isdiscussedFinallythecontr ibutionofcla ims

broughtthrough class proceedings tothe developmentofthe substan-

tivelawofemploymentpensionsandbenetsisevaluated

 OntarioLawReformComm issionReport on Cl ass ActionsvolTorontoQueens

Printerat

 ClassProceedingsActsupra notes