Black public servants to appeal court decision dismissing $2.5-billion lawsuit

The Black Class Action Secretariat (BCAS) speaks in 2024. Photo by Tony Caldwell /PostmediaArticle content

Black government workers are set to appeal a Federal Court judge’s refusal to certify their $2.5-billion proposed class action lawsuit, which alleged systemic discrimination within the federal public service.

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The Black Class Action Secretariat, a group representing Black public servants, has filed a notice of appeal, requesting that a decision by Justice Jocelyne Gagne be set aside. In March, Gagne refused to certify the class action lawsuit, saying it didn’t meet a requirement that the claims raise common issues.

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“We have waited long enough, so we’re not asking for sympathy, but we’re demanding justice to the next government of Canada.” said Nicholas Marcus Thompson, the president and CEO of the Black Class Action Secretariat, at a press conference on April 22. “The time for symbolic gestures is over.”

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In their notice of appeal, the plaintiffs claimed that Gagne “erred in law and principle.”

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Thompson called on the federal government to settle the lawsuit and take a number of other steps to combat anti-Black racism. These included establishing an independent Black equity commissioner for the public service, and implementing promised amendments to the Employment Equity Act that would recognize Black workers as a group facing systemic barriers under the workplace equity law.

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“The time for legislative action and systemic change is now,” he added.

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The government has argued that Black public servants already have other avenues to pursue their complaints, such as the Canadian Human Rights Commission and the public service’s grievance process. Government lawyers also argued that there are other existing class action lawsuits against individual departments and agencies that overlap with that of the Black Class Action Secretariat.

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“You need to look at the whole body, and that’s what the government’s failing to allow us to do here,” said Hugh Scher, a lawyer representing the plaintiffs.

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The notice of appeal argued Gagne’s decision didn’t take into account two recent government reports, including a senate committee report, on racial discrimination.

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The Black Class Action Secretariat originally filed their class action lawsuit in 2020. If successful, the lawsuit will cover around 45,000 Black government workers and job applicants, as the alleged discrimination occurred across dozens of federal departments and agencies dating back to 1970.