MEDIA ADVISORY: UPDATE ON NEXT STEPS IN $2.5B LAWSUITAGAINST GOVERNMENT OF CANADA

Friday April 18, 2025 - OTTAWA — Black public service workers who launched a landmark lawsuit against the Government of Canada in 2020 will announce their next steps Tuesday, April 22, 2025, after a federal court ruled against certification of a class-action last month. The decision follows a five-year David-versus-Goliath battle, which aims to seek justice for more than 45,000 current and former Black public sector employees. While the Court concluded that the case did not meet the procedural threshold required for a class action, it did acknowledge the historical and ongoing discrimination faced by Black Canadians in the public service.

“While we are disappointed and frustrated by this decision, our fight does not end here,” says Nicholas Marcus Thompson, President of the Black Class Action Secretariat. “We respectfully disagree with the court, as we cannot expect a government that has been the perpetrators of oppression and harm to be the ones tasked with remedying it.”

PRESS CONFERENCE

DATE: Tuesday April 22, 2025

TIME: 11:00am EDT

LOCATION: Parliament Hill, Ottawa - 135-B Press Conference Room, West Block

SPEAKERS: Nicholas Marcus Thompson - President, Black Class Action Secretariat; Hugh Scher - Lawyer for the Plaintiffs; Bernadeth Betchi; Representative Plaintiff

MEDIA CONTACT: media@bcas-scrn.org

BACKGROUND:

Thompson v. Canada (also referred to as the Black Class Action), is the largest

employment-related discrimination lawsuit in Canadian history. 13 representative plaintiffs are seeking $2.5B in damages for lost income and pensions. They allege that discrimination in promoting and hiring impacted approximately 45,000 current and former Black employees in the federal public service since 1970. Systemic Anti-Black racism has been previously acknowledged by the federal government, and evidenced by multiple federally commissioned reports. The Liberal government has promised several measures over the years to address issues raised by Black workers, including a Black Mental Health program and changes to the Employment Equity Act – neither have been implemented to date. The federal government is estimated to have spent more than $10M of taxpayer dollars fighting this legal case.