Court denies certification of $2.5-billion Black class action lawsuit

Bernadeth Betchi, CHRC employee and representative plaintiff, listens as Nicholas Marcus Thompson, executive director of the Black Class Action Secretariat, speaks at a news conference on Parliament Hill, in Ottawa, Monday, June 10, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

OTTAWA — A Federal Court judge has dismissed a motion to certify a proposed class action lawsuit that was launched by Black public servants in 2020 who alleged there was systemic racism within the public service.

In an “order and reasons” document, Justice Jocelyne Gagné says the case doesn’t sufficiently meet the class action requirement that the claims raise common enough issues.

Gagné also says the scope of the plaintiffs’ claim “simply makes it unfit for a class procedure.”

Filed in 2020, the class action sought $2.5 billion in damages because of lost salaries and promotion, says the Black Class Action Secretariat, a group created as a result of the lawsuit.

Headed by Nicholas Marcus Thompson, the organization is seeking long-term solutions to address systemic racism and discrimination in the public service, including compensation and the appointment of a Black equity commission.

Gagné said the court acknowledges the “profoundly sad ongoing history of discrimination suffered by Black Canadians” and that plaintiffs have faced challenges in the public service.

However, she said the plaintiffs didn’t present an adequate litigation plan and that they failed to present a ground for the court to assert jurisdiction over the case.

The document also said that several class actions against individual federal departments and agencies allege racial discrimination, which “overlap significantly with the present action.”

Proposed class members, the judge said, “would therefore be included in the class definition of these other class proceedings.”

Catherine Morrison, The Canadian Press

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 17, 2025.