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Damages claimed for Nortel's 'failure to provide to their employees reasonable notice of the changes to the pension plan.'
Ottawa (25 June 2008) – A class-action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of employees of Nortel Networks from across Canada regarding recent changes made to their pension plan. The lawsuit was filed in Ontario Superior Court yesterday by the Ottawa law firm of Nelligan O'Brien Payne LLP.
In June, 2006, Nortel made a series of changes to its pension packages that included axing its defined benefit pension plan as of Jan. 1, 2008, in favour of a defined contribution plan.
The suit seeks damages due to what the plaintiffs consider Nortel's "failure to provide to their employees reasonable notice of the changes to the pension plan." It also alleges that the company will not take into account future salary increases beyond Jan. 1, 2008 when calculating the value of the pension benefits.
"Our petition is that for individuals who had 20 or more years of service, the 18 months notice was not sufficient," said Steven Levitt, a lawyer with Nelligan O'Brien Payne representing the Nortel employees. The exact number of employees involved in the lawsuit and the procedure for handling claims by individual employees will be determined in the certification process done through the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. As of yesterday, about 40 Nortel employees had already signed onto the suit.