Laid-off casino Nanaimo employees have filed a class-action lawsuit in Supreme Court in B.C., claiming the company acted in bad faith and wrongfully dismissed them during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to court documents filed April 6, Catherine Fanning, Kimberly Bussiere and Samantha Heffel are leading the civil suit against Casino Nanaimo operators Great Canadian Casinos Inc. and Great Canadian Gaming Corporation.
They claim the casino 鈥渇ailed to discharge their obligations of good faith, honesty and fair dealings with class members in effecting the terminations鈥� of casino workers.
Business was halted March 16, 2020, due to COVID-19, at which time Casino Nanaimo operators laid off employees. Great Canadian also issued a memorandum stating workers were not allowed to 鈥渄raw down on banked statutory vacation pay.鈥� Utilizing accumulated vacation time 鈥渨as suspended,鈥� and 鈥渓ong-term disability pay and benefits, for which [the corporation] self-insured, were terminated鈥� immediately, the suit claims.
The plaintiffs allege that when they cleaned out their lockers in July, certain employees who were owed tips received envelopes with cash from a trunk of a manager鈥檚 vehicle.
Another memo distributed in September contained 鈥渇alse information鈥� the plaintiffs allege, and outlined a 鈥渇orced buyout process,鈥� which would be equal to termination pay under the B.C. Employment Standards Act, amounting to one week of pay per year of service up to a maximum of eight weeks, disregarding years of service.
This past January, the company again offered a buyout, said the plaintiffs, but this time capped payouts at $2,500 and changed requirements that settlement money be taken as severance. This would make them ineligible to receive employment insurance, they allege, and in addition, they say another proposal wouldn鈥檛 be coming until this summer.
The plaintiffs say that the company should have known that it was 鈥渃onducting a mass termination of employees without adequate compensation for the longer notice period applicable under the [act].鈥�
The lawsuit said the company is claiming the workers are still employed, as it is continuing to pay for benefits, but the premiums were waived by Manulife Financial and the B.C. government. Bussiere said she and the plaintiffs have been removed from e-mail lists and Facebook pages.
Bussiere also said she couldn鈥檛 comment on the monetary compensation sought.
鈥淪ome of us have been working there for 30-plus years and myself, 22 years,鈥� said Bussiere. 鈥淎t my age, it鈥檚 hard to get another job and get trained to a position where I would be making what I was making as an employee of the casino. You put in 22 years, you鈥檝e put a lot of time in and you鈥檙e expecting to retire and have a pension and all of a sudden you鈥檙e unable to access any of that.鈥�
Bussiere said Nanaimo is the only Great Canadian Gaming Corporation casino without a union.
The plaintiffs are being represented by Martin Sheard and Geraldine Teixeira. The News Bulletin has reached out to both for comment.
In an e-mail, Chuck Keeling, Great Canadian Gaming Corporation executive vice-president of stakeholder relations and responsible gaming, said it wasn鈥檛 able to say much as it is a legal matter.
鈥淎s the matter is before the courts, we do not have a comment,鈥� Keeling said. 鈥淲e would note, however, we are eagerly anticipating the reopening of Casino Nanaimo as early as July 1, subject to receiving approval from the provincial government and [Dr. Bonnie Henry] to do so. We have been closed due to a government mandated suspension of operations since March 16, 2020, to support the province鈥檚 efforts to contain the spread of COVID.
鈥淭o support the property鈥檚 reopening, we have already called back approximately 75 of our team members, and we are looking forward to having them back on the job.鈥�
The corporation has 21 days after it is served with the notice to file a response.
None of the claims have been proven in a court of law.
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