Laurentian asks for more time to finalize process to deal with claims from former staff

Northern reaction to LU's provincial bailout The provincial government announced millions of dollars in new aid for financially insolvent Laurentian University on Thursday.

Sudbury — Laurentian University is asking the courts for more time to come up with a process to handle compensation claims from former staff members.

LU had been given until July 30 to work with the two biggest unions at the school – the Laurentian University Faculty Association (LUFA) and the Laurentian University Staff Union (LUSU) – to develop a process to handle the claims.

"Compensation claims generally include the claims of current and former employees, retirees, and labour unions with respect to employment, benefits, pension, and/or labour agreements among the stakeholders and the applicant, and claims of certain third parties with respect to participation of their employees in the retirement health benefit plan," said court documents seeking the extension.

While LUFA and LUSA have received a draft process, more time is needed to get feedback and resolve any issues. LU is hoping to move the deadline to Aug. 20, with a court date set for Aug. 17.

Roughly 150 positions at the university were terminated this spring, as Laurentian went through insolvency under the Companies Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) which allowed them to cut staff and programs quickly to become financially stable.

In all, LU said 58 undergraduate programs were cut. Of those, 34 were English-language programs and 24 were French-language programs. In addition, 11 graduate programs were cut.

The court filings under the CCAA revealed the university is hundreds of millions of dollars in debt, has run operating deficits for several years. There are also concerns money donated for bursaries and to support different programs may have been absorbed by the mounting debts.