BlackBerry Sued By Over 300 Former Employees (mobilesyrup.com)

An anonymous reader shares a report: BlackBerry is facing a class-action lawsuit from more than 300 former employees across Canada, according to a news release from law firm Nelligan O'Brien Payne LLP. The Waterloo, Ontario-based tech company is accused of denying employees their termination entitlements by transferring them to a partner company and, once they had accepted employment there, handed them resignation letters. The former employees were then allegedly given their final date of work. "BlackBerry's actions amount to a termination of the employees' employment," the law firm said. "This entitles these employees to statutory, common law, and/or contractual entitlements on termination."

Comments

Re:Whatever happened to at-will employment?

[ameline]

This is in Ontario Canada. This is most definitely not an "at-will" jurisdiction when it comes to employment.
The Ontario Labour Relations Act applies, along with common law. (The entitlements written down are not what applies -- it is what is "usual and customary" that applies in Ontario for severance compensation -- and that is *much* more generous than what is written in the legislation.)

Anyone subject to severance (of any kind) in Ontario should consult with a lawyer experienced with the practice of employment law in Ontario before signing anything.

Re:Whatever happened to unions! and H1B laws?

[Mashiki]

Yeah in Canada they're called TFW's(temporary foreign workers), and unlike H1B's a TFW can replace any job at any level if the company can work out a way to claim there isn't someone to fill it. The Royal Bank of Canada was caught doing this a few years ago. But it's happened across skilled trades, white collar workers, blue collar, take your pick.