An Ontario judge has approved a class action lawsuit filed against BlackBerry by 300 former employees hoping to receive severance or termination pay from the company.
According to the suit, Blackberry tried to avoid paying its employees what they were owed by transferring their work to Ford Motor Company of Canada.
BlackBerry’s spokeswoman told press that the company does not comment on upcoming proceedings.
The company did however previously state that the case does not qualify as a class action. However, on May 27th, Justice Michel Charbonneau stated that the suit does qualify under the Class Proceedings Act criteria.
“Ford told the class employees that if they accepted Ford’s offer they would not be entitled to retain their seniority, or any benefits and entitlements they had acquired during their years of service with BlackBerry,” said Charbonneau.
He concluded that a trial judge will determine whether the transfer was meant to terminate the jobs without having to give them severance. Upcoming trial dates have not yet been announced.
Source: The Canadian Press
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