CN Railway latest target of unpaid-overtime lawsuit
Published: March 25, 2008
Source: Canadian Press
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TORONTO - Canadian National Railway Co. faces class action litigation over allegedly unpaid overtime.

Law firms Sack Goldblatt Mitchell LLP and Roy Elliot O'Connor LLP - already acting in similar lawsuits against the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and the Bank of Nova Scotia - said Tuesday the CNR litigation covers over 1,000 supervisors across Canada.

The lawsuit alleges Canada's largest railway misclassified operational supervisors as management to avoid paying them overtime required under the Canada Labour Code.

The law firms state that CN supervisors "are routinely required to work hundreds of hours of overtime annually for which they are not paid."

The allegations have not been tested in court. A CN spokesman said the railway had not been served with court documents and had no immediate comment.

"This is the third major unpaid-overtime national class action against a federally regulated company that has been brought in Canada in nine months," stated Douglas Elliott, a partner at Roy Elliott O'Connor.

"Unlike the others, this one alleges misclassification of employees as management, a common feature in U.S. cases but a new development in Canada."