Class Action Case Against Denny’s Certified by BC Supreme Court: First TFW Class Action Case to Proceed

In a landmark ruling, Madam Justice Fitzpatrick of the BC Supreme Court certified the lawsuit filed by Koskie Glavin Gordon and Kestrel Workplace Lawyers on behalf of temporary foreign workers employed at Denny’s Restaurants in British Columbia allowing the case to proceed as a class action. It is one of the first employment cases to be certified in British Columbia and the first case involving temporary foreign workers to be certified in Canada.

The suit claims that workers brought to Canada by Denny’s had to pay fees to an employment agency averaging $6000 apiece, that the workers were required to pay their own airfare to get to Canada, that they were then given fewer hours that promised in their contracts of employment and were not properly paid for overtime hours. “We hope this will provide an effective avenue for other temporary foreign workers to enforce their rights in Canada,” said Charles Gordon, counsel for the Class.

Case Judgement:

http://www.courts.gov.bc.ca/jdb-txt/SC/12/03/2012BCSC0328.htm

In the press:

Foreign Workers Allowed to Launch Class Action Lawsuit Against Denny’s” – The Globle & Mail