Case Note: Class Action For Post-Retirement Health Benefit To Proceed

The Supreme Court of Canada upheld the right of former employees to pursue a class action against their former employer after the employer unilaterally amended their post-retirement health insurance benefits to their detriment in Vivendi Canada Inc. v Dell'Aniello, 2014 SCC 1. The Quebec Superior Court had originally disallowed the action on the basis that it did not raise "identical, similar or related" questions within the meaning of Article 1003(a) of the Quebec Code of Civil Procedure. It found 5 different groups of employees who, based on their retirement date, had received different information and might have different rights from those of the petitioning employee. It felt that a determination of that employee's rights would not have resolved the dispute for the majority of the remaining employees. That assessment was rejected by the Quebec Court of Appeal. In the opinion of the Court of Appeal, the validity of the plan amendments was an 'identical, similar or