The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that a former employee of Vivendi Canada can file a class-action lawsuit against the company for altering the retiree health benefits plan.
The question before the court was whether one retiree could represent all retirees who were eligible for the benefits.
The Quebec Superior Court decided that the circumstances of members of the proposed class weren’t similar enough to warrant a class action. It noted that they retired at different dates and would receive different sets of communications, meaning there would be different answers to the question.
The Quebec Court of Appeal disagreed and the case moved to the Supreme Court, which also disagreed. “In short, it can be concluded that the common questions do not have to lead to common answers,” the Supreme Court stated in its ruling.
Vivendi made changes to the Seagram health benefits plan a few years after purchasing the company.
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