CIBC Bank O.T. Class Action Could be Largest in Canadian History

Toronto, ONIn a move that is sending shockwaves throughout Corporate Canada, a diminutive bank teller from Toronto took a day off from her job and launched a $600 million class action lawsuit against her employer. It also sends a message to the banking sector everywhere--including the U.S.-- that bankers should abide by labor laws and fair play when it comes to overtime pay.

It's an issue of 'pay me now - or pay me a lot more later...'

While a statement issued by the CIBC Bank June 5th claimed that its corporate overtime policy for front-line retail workers is clearly defined and exceeds all legislative requirements in Canada, the reality-- according to those close to the banking industry--is hardly the case. Frequent, and often unscheduled overtime hours for things such as staff meetings, new product briefings, or the reconciliation of imbalanced accounts at the end of the day are often not met with compensation.

According to one retired branch manager with 35 years in the banking industry, overtime costs can reduce an individual branch's profitability - which in turn is tied to a branch manager's bonus packet. The refusal of overtime could be anything from a subtle hint to a determined no. An oft-used tactic is to trade off an hour or two of overtime with the invitation to take some time off in return, on some future date.

But that future date never arrives.

Statistics Canada reports that 1.6 million Canadians worked unpaid overtime hours in the month of April alone - so this class action lawsuit could have huge repercussions for other industries, doing similar end-runs around the overtime issue.

"I decided to seek out legal advice to see, mainly, if this was allowed and to find out what my options were ... because it isn't fair to work and not be paid for your time."

For Dara Fresco, a 10-year employee of CIBC Bank with experience in many facets of the organization including personal banking, it was time to take action. "What is unfair is that my colleagues and I are rarely being paid for the overtime that we are working, and that's just not right," Ms. Fresco said Tuesday at a press conference announcing the class-action lawsuit. The teller, who was recently lauded by CIBC Bank for being an exemplary employee, calculates that she is owed Cdn.$50,000 for unpaid overtime over the past decade. That's more than her annual salary of just under $31,000 per year.

She goes back to her job tomorrow, and knows that the road ahead will be rocky - but she's doing it on behalf of her fellow workers. Her lawyers say as many as 10,000 employees or more stiffed on overtime over the years could benefit from the class action, and are inviting anyone who feels unfairly treated by CIBC within context of non-payment of overtime, to come forward.

Douglas Elliot, a partner with Roy Elliot Kim O'Connor LLP represents the CIBC Bank employees along with Louis Sokolov of Sack Goldblatt Mitchell LLP. Elliot reiterates the view that the lawsuit "will establish a very important class-action precedent in Canada."
It could only be a matter of time before the trend of multi-million dollar lawsuits moved to Canada.

CIBC has thirty days to respond with a statement of defence, or wait for the class action to be officially registered, which could take a year. But Dara is in it for the long haul.
On the day of the announcement Tuesday, the 34-year-old head teller at a CIBC branch in Toronto dropped her toddler off at daycare before filing a statement of claim in Ontario Superior Court of Justice as representative plaintiff, alleging that CIBC Bank actively discourages employees from submitting claims for overtime hours they are required to work.

She says she loves her job. But fair is fair, and enough is enough.
This one will be watched from both sides of the border, very - very, closely.