APPEAL FILED IN $2.5B CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT AGAINST GOVERNMENT OF CANADA

Counsel for the plaintiffs Hugh Scher, with Nicholas Marcus Thompson and Bernadeth Betchi at a press conference in Ottawa. April 22, 2025 Spencer Colby

April 22, 2025 - OTTAWA — Black public service workers have filed an appeal to the Federal Court of Appeal after the Federal Court denied certification of a proposed class action lawsuit against the Government of Canada.

The appeal marks the latest chapter in a five-year David versus Goliath legal battle seeking justice for more than 45,000 current and former Black federal employees who allege they were systemically denied hiring and promotion opportunities due to deeply entrenched anti-Black racism within the federal public service. The case, spanning 99 departments and agencies from 1970 to the present, is the largest employment-related discrimination lawsuit in Canadian history.

Following a 13-day hearing, Justice Jocelyn Gagné ruled that the case did not meet the procedural threshold for class action certification, suggesting Black workers instead pursue existing internal mechanisms for redress. However, in her written decision, she affirmed the plaintiffs’ lived experiences, writing:

"The Court does acknowledge the profoundly sad ongoing history of discrimination suffered by Black Canadians, just as it recognizes the fact that each one of the representative Plaintiffs have faced challenges not faced by their non-visible minority colleagues in the federal public service.”

Lawyers for the plaintiffs have filed an appeal on grounds that the court failed to consider significant and material evidence in its decision, including:

- The Employment Equity Taskforce Report - The internal report on anti-Black racism at the Privy Council Office 

- The Treasury Board Secretariat’s finding of anti-Black racism and discrimination at the Canadian Human Rights Commission, both against its staff, and the Canadian public

- The Zellars report on anti-Black racism against Black executives within the public service - The expert testimony of Raj Anand, former Chief Commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission.

The Black Class Action Secretariat is calling on all party leaders, if elected as Prime Minister, to:

1. Introduce long-overdue amendments to the Employment Equity Act, including the formal recognition of Black workers as an employment group promised since 2023;

2. Launch the Black Mental Health Program, promised since 2021;

3. Establish an independent Black Equity Commissioner to oversee accountability across departments and agencies;

4. Settle the class action, and provide long-overdue compensation and structural change to the thousands of Black workers harmed by Black employee exclusion. 

   
   

Contact: media@bcas-srcn.org 

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