Top court won’t hear bid to broaden Phoenix pay system class action

OTTAWA — The Supreme Court of Canada will not hear a bid to have more federal civil servants included in a class-action lawsuit against the government over the faulty Phoenix pay system.

The system, implemented for the federal public service in February 2016, has experienced countless failures since its launch.

Many federal government employees have not been paid for long periods of time, have been paid less than expected or have been overpaid since the Phoenix system was set up.

In April 2018, a Quebec Superior Court judge authorized a class-action lawsuit seeking to compensate victims of the Phoenix fiasco, but the terms excluded workers who have access to the federal grievance process.

The province’s Court of Appeal rejected a request by a Quebec City law firm to broaden the class action, prompting the firm to take the case to the Supreme Court.

As usual, the high court gave no reasons for refusing to hear the appeal.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 23, 2020.

The Canadian Press