CLASS ACTIONS
MASS TERMINATIONS

Judicial Economy

There can be hundreds or even thousands of plaintiffs. Class actions are special in that the plaintiff group has be certified by the courts before the lawsuit can continue. Among other requirements, the plaintiff must demonstrate that there is a common issue to litigate and that a class proceeding would be the preferable procedure for resolving that common issue. Class actions have a policy objective of access to justice and judicial economy. Class actions have now been permitted in employment law cases. Class actions have been made for overtime, holiday pay, vacation and sometimes for wrongful dismissal. In recent developments, class actions have recently been launched by workers against their former employer with respect to the mishandling of “mass terminations”. See Dillon v. Novi Canadian ltd. (1999), 45 C.C.E.L. (2d) 23 (Ont. S.C.J.). Many large organizations will feel the need to restructure their operations, sometimes terminating large groups of employees to reach this goal. The Employment Standards Act has special rules when it comes to “mass terminations”. In Ontario, a mass termination is when 50 or more employees are terminated within a four-week period. Employers who are planning to take this step must complete and submit a Form 1 (Notice of Termination of Employment) to the Ministry of Labour’s Director of Employment Standards, who will respond with a letter of acknowledgement. The employer must also provide the employees with individual notices of termination and they must post a copy of the Form 1 on the first day of the notice period.