$2.5 billion lawsuit accusing public service of anti-Black racism dismissed
The Federal Court has made a decision regarding the $2.5 billion class-action lawsuit accusing government workers of systemic anti-Black racism within the federal public service. After years of legal debates, the court sided with the government’s request to dismiss the lawsuit without delving into the merits of the complaint in a trial.
Federal Court Judge Jocelyne Gagné approved the government’s motion to reject the lawsuit, acknowledging the uncomfortable position she was in. She stated that the focus of the motion wasn’t to assess the presence or extent of racism and discrimination in the federal public service, but simply to determine if the claim made by the plaintiffs was suitable for a class action. In her ruling published on Friday, she concluded that it did not.
Courtney Betty, the attorney representing 14 current or former public servants from 11 federal agencies named as representative plaintiffs, expressed his clients’ frustration with the outcome. Betty emphasized that the government’s procedural motion hindered the ability to address significant ongoing issues that Black public servants face. He criticized the move as a direct attempt to block access to justice for Black public service workers.
The lawsuit, filed in 2020, aimed to seek damages on behalf of a class of individuals who were Black and either worked or applied to work for the federal government since 1970. The claim alleged a systemic practice of excluding Black employees from hiring and advancement opportunities across 99 federal government departments and agencies. These included notable departments such as Agriculture, Border Services, Correctional Service, Fisheries, Foreign Affairs, Health, Immigration, Justice, Parks, Public Works, RCMP, Revenue, Transport, Statistics Canada, and Veterans Affairs.
Additionally, the lawsuit encompassed the Canadian Armed Forces, although the legal status of soldiers as civil servants under Canadian law differs. The plaintiffs argued that Black employees were disproportionately not hired or promoted based on their demographic representation. This, in turn, adversely affected Black employees concerning Canada’s pension schemes due to lower incomes from being confined to lower-paying positions throughout their public service careers.
In December, Nicholas Marcus Thompson, the lead plaintiff in the proposed lawsuit, presented a petition supporting their cause to the Prime Minister’s Office with 35,000 signatures.
