CIBC will settle a 15-year class-action lawsuit and pay a total of $153 million to employees who were not compensated for overtime, plaintiff lawyers say.
Dara Fresco, a former treasurer and adviser to CIBC, raised the case in 2007.
“It is good news for the class that this case is finally being resolved,” Fresco said in a statement released by Goldblatt Partners LLP, the Ontario law firm representing the CIBC employees involved in the class action.
“I am very happy that the case is being settled. This settlement is a fair compromise that will provide meaningful compensation to thousands of my fellow classmates.”
WATCH | Dara Fresco confronts CIBC in 2007: Treasurer Dara Fresco confronts CIBC for allegedly demanding unpaid overtime. What could the case mean for your salary and the way you work?
Last year, the Ontario Court of Appeal rejected the bank’s attempt to overturn a lower court ruling in favor of the class action on behalf of about 31,000 retail bank employees.
CIBC spokesman Tom Wallis said in an emailed statement to CBC News that the settlement will avoid additional legal costs and allow the bank to put the matter behind it.
“We believe that CIBC has a clear, accessible and effective overtime policy and practices,” he wrote, noting that the company is proud of the work environment it has created. “When overtime is required or authorized by eligible team members, it shall be paid.”
The settlement must be approved by the Ontario Superior Court before it becomes binding.
“Strength in numbers,” says the law instructor
The agreement is a victory for workers in Canada, said Daniel Tsai, a professor of business and law at Toronto Metropolitan University. The class action covers the period between 1993 and 2009.
“This decision in itself is a very positive development for workers in the sense that the settlement shows that there is strength in numbers,” Tsai said. “It’s also very important to have compensation for the work done.”
Banks typically have “a culture of hard work and also an expectation that employees should work above and beyond because they are driven by the profit motive,” he said.
“So I think this is an important settlement because it shows that the bank didn’t have the stomach to continue fighting the class action.”
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