TORONTO – After nearly a decade-long legal battle, roughly 1,600 people who say they were necessary for Scotiabank to operate unpaid overtime will soon be splitting a $20.6 million settlement.
Judge Edward Belobaba from the Ontario Superior Court approved a settlement in the class-action lawsuit from the bank Thursday, with written good reasons to follow in the coming weeks.
The suit was originally settled in 2014 and since then, roughly $18.7 million continues to be distributed among 600 class members. But one more 1,600 retail branch employees had their claims rejected or reduced.
The ruling is really a victory for those workers, said David O’Connor, an attorney for the class members.
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“We are all very pleased and proud to possess driven this hard fought case through certification, appeals and then right into a settlement and resettlement that generated almost $40 million for a type of bank employees,” O’Connor said in an email Friday.
“Scotiabank has confirmed in an exceedingly material method in which it does recognize the significant contributions of their employees over many years. Let’s hope that it inspires exactly the same recognition at other employers across Canada.”
In accessory for the cash being paid to frontline sales staff, the financial institution will have paid as many as $12.5 million in legal fees over the course of both settlements, O’Connor said.
Scotiabank spokesman Rick Roth said the bank is pleased to reach the final stage in the event.
“The bank values each employee and recognizes that their contributions are an integral part of our ongoing success,” he explained within an email.
The lawsuit was originally filed in December of 2007 by Cindy Fulawka, a personal banking representative at Scotiabank, who alleged that the institution breached the minimum standards of overtime compensation deliver to by the Canada Labour Code, as well as employment contracts.
Fulawka, who first joined the bank in a Saskatchewan branch in 1986, also alleged that the bank was unjustly enriched by keeping money for itself that should have been paid as wages.
