No class action, but individual cases can proceed
An Ontario Court of Appeal judge has dismissed an application by a group of retired female University of Toronto professors and librarians for class action certification. However, the judge determined that the women may have strong individual cases against the university.
The women claim that the university unjustly benefitted by underpaying them. They state that they were paid less than their male counterparts for decades.
The certification application was turned down on the grounds that, even if the women as a group were able to prove sexual discrimination, they would still each have to prove they were victims of that discrimination. That determination would be better made in individual lawsuits, rather than a class action.
The ruling may mean that the university will face over 100 individual lawsuits from women who are now aged 70 and up.
The women claim that the university unjustly benefitted by underpaying them. They state that they were paid less than their male counterparts for decades.
The certification application was turned down on the grounds that, even if the women as a group were able to prove sexual discrimination, they would still each have to prove they were victims of that discrimination. That determination would be better made in individual lawsuits, rather than a class action.
The ruling may mean that the university will face over 100 individual lawsuits from women who are now aged 70 and up.
