J. Brett Ledger

In this pension class proceeding arising from a workforce downsizing, the plaintiffs moved to add common issues alleging the administrator-employer operated under a material conflict of interest while making and implementing surplus-related decisions affecting departing plan members.

The court held the amended theory under ss. 8(10) and 8(11) of the Pension Benefits Standards Act disclosed a viable cause of action and was not defeated by the defendants' argument that members of an ongoing plan had no proprietary right in actuarial surplus.

The proposed conflict issues were common to the certified class, would materially advance the litigation, and did not turn primarily on individualized reliance analysis at the certification stage.

The motion was granted, with directions to file a corrected amended statement of claim and an updated litigation plan.

The plaintiffs moved to certify a class proceeding arising from a pension surplus dispute involving former employees who left the pension plan after taking commuted values during a work force adjustment.

The court treated the action as a companion to related pension litigation and certified common issues mirroring those already certified in the related action, including additional conflict of interest issues under the PBSA.

The court rejected the argument that the proposed class definition was irrationally over-inclusive or under-inclusive, found the class action procedure preferable, and accepted the proposed representatives.

The action was certified, the plaintiffs were directed to deliver an updated litigation plan, and the two related actions were ordered to be tried together subject to the trial judge's discretion.

The plaintiff, a black man, sued his former employer for constructive dismissal, alleging a poisoned work environment due to racism after a co-worker refused to attend mandatory training with him.

The trial judge found in favour of the plaintiff, concluding that the co-worker's refusal was racially motivated and that the employer's response was inadequate.

The Court of Appeal allowed the employer's appeal, finding that the trial judge's conclusions regarding racism and a poisoned work environment were unreasonable and unsupported by the evidence.

The Court held that a single incident did not objectively establish a poisoned workplace, and the employer's actions in investigating the complaint and offering alternative positions did not constitute a repudiation of the employment contract.

The defendant employer appealed an order of a Master requiring production of internal corporate documents and refusing to strike certain documents from the plaintiff’s summary judgment motion record in a certified class action concerning post‑retirement employee benefits.

The court interpreted the certification order and settlement agreement governing the litigation, which restricted discovery and admissible documents to “common documents” shared with class members or historical versions of benefits plan documents.

The Master erred by applying a general relevance test rather than the contractual limitations agreed upon by the parties.

Internal board minutes, memoranda, and corporate financial statements were not “common documents” or historical plan documents because they were not shared with employees as part of the benefits package.

The appeal was allowed, the production order was set aside, and the impugned materials were struck from the motion record.

The plaintiff in a class action regarding post-retirement benefits brought a motion for the production of historical benefits plan documents, including corporate minutes and resolutions concerning the creation of the benefits plans.

The defendant brought a cross-motion to strike certain documents from the plaintiff's affidavit.

The court interpreted the Settlement Agreement between the parties and found that the requested corporate minutes and resolutions fell within the definition of 'historical benefits plan documents' as they were relevant to the objective determination of the contractual terms.

The court ordered the defendant to produce the documents and dismissed the motion to strike.

The appellants, former employees of CMHC, sought to certify class proceedings claiming that CMHC breached its duties by failing to partially terminate its pension plan and distribute the surplus to them after a workforce downsizing.

The motion judge and Divisional Court refused to certify the common issues, finding no viable cause of action.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, holding that under the Pension Benefits Standards Act, 1985, the court lacks jurisdiction to order an employer to partially terminate a pension plan or to award damages premised on a partial termination.

The court also upheld the refusal to certify a misrepresentation claim and the denial of costs out of the pension fund.

The employer sold a division of its business, resulting in the transfer of employees to a new company.

The transferred employees were removed from the employer's defined benefit pension plan and incorporated into a new successor plan.

At the time of the transfer, the employer's pension plan had a significant projected actuarial surplus.

The employer transferred enough funds to cover the transferred employees' defined benefits but did not transfer any surplus funds.

The transferred employees argued the employer breached its fiduciary duty of even-handedness by not transferring a portion of the surplus and by improperly charging plan administration expenses to the fund.

The Supreme Court of Canada dismissed the appeal, holding that the pension plan documentation allowed the employer to charge administration expenses to the fund and that the transferred employees had no equitable interest in the actuarial surplus, meaning the employer's obligations were satisfied by assuring their defined benefits.

The appellant, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, sought a confidentiality order for technical documents related to the environmental assessment of nuclear reactors being built in China.

The Federal Court Trial Division and Federal Court of Appeal denied the order.

On appeal, the Supreme Court of Canada established the test for granting confidentiality orders in civil litigation, adapting the Dagenais/Mentuck framework.

The Court held that a confidentiality order should be granted when necessary to prevent a serious risk to an important interest, such as a commercial interest, and when the salutary effects of the order outweigh its deleterious effects on the open court principle and freedom of expression.

Applying this test, the Court allowed the appeal and granted the confidentiality order.