Quebec court rules in favour of former Aveos workers, possibly costing Air Canada $100m
Air Canada may need to pay at least $100m to around 2,200 former workers after a Quebec court's ruling in their class-action lawsuit, according to Bloomberg News.
This payment would cover lost wages, benefits, and moral damages due to the closure of Aveos, Air Canada's former maintenance contractor. Judge Marie-Christine Hivon released her decision on the calculation of damages this week.
The plaintiffs, mostly based in Montreal, were Aveos employees when the company locked out workers and ceased operations in 2012. They argued that Air Canada violated a federal law requiring the airline to maintain those maintenance operations in their existing locations.
Judge Hivon initially ruled in favour of the plaintiffs in November 2022. Although Air Canada plans to appeal this decision, an appellate court judge delayed the matter until the completion of the damages phase of the original trial.
Lawyers for the former workers estimate Air Canada could be required to pay a minimum of $100m based on initial calculations. However, Air Canada maintains it is too early to specify an amount since the claims process will proceed on a case-by-case basis.
“We have appealed the first part of the judgment on the principle of liability. We are considering whether to add points to the second judgment, which will not apply anyway if our appeal in the first part is successful,” Air Canada spokesperson Christophe Hennebelle stated via email.
“The judgment merely sets out a calculation method and then calls for individual proof for each member. It is completely silent on the quantification of the total amount. Any assessment at this stage is therefore pure speculation.”
