WestJet flight attendants have to attend for harassment settlement

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WestJet has been ordered to pay $4.5 million to hundreds of feminine flight attendants for a failure to guard them from office harassment — however the crew members must anticipate that settlement to be made official.

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The settlement got here from a class-action lawsuit filed by 3,500 of WestJet’s feminine cabin crew over the corporate’s failure to implement anti-harassment applications, nevertheless B.C. Supreme Courtroom Justice Jacqueline Hughes stated she was involved that class members solely had three days to evaluation and approve the settlement, as an alternative of the same old month. 

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WestJet will assume no legal responsibility below phrases

As a part of the settlement, WestJet will assume no legal responsibility — a truth many within the class motion stated can be a key a part of whether or not the settlement can be accepted.

A preliminary, and unofficial, model of the settlement was despatched to class members weeks in the past, however uncared for to incorporate parts that absolved WestJet’s legal responsibility.

“The appellant claims that WestJet breached a variety of contractual phrases in its employment contracts by failing to design, implement and keep a office program to fight harassment,” reads courtroom paperwork for Lewis v. WestJet Airways Ltd., filed with the British Columbia Courtroom of Attraction in 2022.

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“The appellant seeks to have WestJet disgorge its earnings on the premise that the profit to class members will not be readily measurable.”

The time interval of the lawsuit covers April 4, 2016 to Feb. 28, 2021.

WestJet accused of delaying trial

Members of the category now have till March 23 to evaluation the settlement, and the case returns to courtroom on Might 7.

The lawsuit has been a protracted and frustratingly gradual experience for sophistication members.

In response to courtroom paperwork filed in 2024, WestJet was accused of slowing down the method by not offering proof in a well timed method.

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“The plaintiff has raised numerous issues concerning the completeness of WestJet’s doc manufacturing in the midst of this utility. For my part, these issues are usually not unfounded,” Hughes wrote in December 2024.

“The report earlier than me means that WestJet’s method to doc manufacturing to this point has been dilatory and, at instances, doubtlessly adversarial in nature.”

She wrote that the explanations for the delays aren’t clear, saying that if WestJet wasn’t capable of produce paperwork throughout the required time, it ought to have sought an extension. WestJet’s gradual tempo in producing paperwork contributed to a year-long adjournment that led to October 2025, Hughes famous.

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