CBC reports on the settlement of this class action
Update: you can watch the interviews here:
The CBC interviewed representative plaintiff, D’Andra Montaque, and counsel, Josh Mandryk, in reporting on the settlement of the S-Trip class action.
D’Andra says that she is “… very relieved, very happy for it … just knowing that something can be changed that is going to impact others and not just myself.” She led a student trip to Cuba in 2017.
Josh explained what is different about this settlement:
According to Montaque’s lawyer, Joshua Mandryk with Goldblatt Partners LLP in Toronto, there are 1,170 class members on record. A notice will go out to them; anyone who led a trip between June 3, 2014, and Oct. 23, 2020, will be eligible to file a claim for compensation.
The amount of money trip leaders will be entitled to depends on a number of factors, including how many former staff put in a claim for compensation and how many trips they took. Mandryk said it’s estimated that the compensation should cover the equivalent of eight hours of work a day for each trip a claimant took.
As a labour lawyer, Mandryk said he handles many of these types of cases, but what stands out about this one is that the company actually agreed to change its policies.
“I thought it was really significant and a really positive development to be able to get a class action settlement that actually results in people being reclassified on a go forward basis.”
Mandryk believes the case will send a message to workers and employers that there is recourse for employment misclassifications. He acknowledged it’s not always easy for workers to push back.
“It takes a lot of courage. And that’s especially the case like in D’Andra’s situation, where she was a young worker, she was just starting her career off just finishing school when this class action was launched in 2018,” said Mandryk.
“To come forward in those circumstances and to achieve what she was able to achieve — we’re just tremendously proud of what’s happened here.”