Ontario Superior Court of Justice approved class action settlement for alleged failure to properly administer statutory leaves
July 16, 2026
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The Ontario Superior Court of Justice has approved a class action settlement regarding the failure to properly administer pregnancy, maternity and parental leaves (“Statutory Leaves”) under the employer’s pension plan.
Employees and former employees of Enbridge Gas Inc. (“Enbridge”) alleged that Enbridge failed to properly administer the paperwork for Statutory leaves, resulting in lower pensionable service being awarded, and a lower overall pension payment, to a limited number of its employees.
Section 51(3) of the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (the “ESA”) generally provides that, on a Statutory Leave, an employer shall continue to make the employer’s contributions to specified plans unless the employee gives the employer a written notice that the employee does not intend to pay the employee’s contributions, if any. The settlement addresses the claims of 223 employees and former employees of Enbridge who took a Statutory Leave during the previous 36-38 years and arguably have a claim under Section 51(3) the ESA because they allegedly did not give Enbridge written notice that they did not intend to pay their contributions.
The Ontario Superior Court of Justice approved the Settlement Agreement which provides for a settlement sum of $826,836 to be distributed between class members based on a pre-calculated portion of the value of their missed pension service. The Court found that the settlement agreement was fair, reasonable, and in the best interests of the class as a whole, noting that there were several risks associated with the claim should the matter proceed to trial, including (1) confirming whether each class member had provided the required notice would have required a review of Enbridge’s records, resulting in a length and costly discovery process, (2) there was uncertainty as to when the statutory limitation period would begin to run, and (3) the union’s obligation to pursue claims on behalf of its represented members could have “fractured an already uncrystallized class into factions.”
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