Canadian Government to Fight Black Public Servants’ $900M Racism Class Action

More than 520 current and former Black federal public servants in Canada have joined a class action lawsuit alleging decades of government discrimination, lack of advancement and harassment at work. 

The proposed class action, filed Dec. 2, 2020, is asking the government to set up a CAD$900 million fund to support Black employees and redress harm caused to current and former Black staff members, the Hill Times reported.

After three months of waiting for a response from the government, lead lawyer for the plaintiffs Courtney Betty said the government had enlisted a top law firm to fight the action, despite Prime Minister Justin Trudeau publicly admitting that racism and discrimination exists across public-sector institutions.

“We’re now getting geared up on the premise that the government is prepared to have these individuals relive their horror, and tell their stories,” Betty told the Hill Times. 

“It’s a game changer for us in terms of how we approach it, and so we’re definitely now in a position where we’re going to aggressively put forward our case.”

Betty said, in the last three months, the number of public servants for the class action had exploded from 12 to more than 520, with many Class Members now in their 70s and alleging decades of abuse and lost opportunity. 

Public servant Caroline Layne told the Hill Times she started as a temp telecommunications clerk with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in 1982 and retired in 2009. She said she spent 37 years stuck at one level and was never promoted.

Another member in the class action, Carol Sip, spent 26 years in the federal public service, starting in the Department of National Defence in 1974 before retiring in 2000. 

Sip said, despite moving around different departments to seek opportunities for career growth, she wasn’t promoted and had to find other part-time work to supplement her income.

“Now, instead of the government taking responsibility, protecting me, and addressing the matter, they hire a Bay Street law firm to inflict more pain and suffering,” Sip told the Hill Times. “The victims always suffer.”

While Sip initially didn’t want to come forward with her story, she said she was doing it to help the younger generation.

Many of the experiences in the class action center on their lack of promotions within the federal public service after many years on the job. The lawsuit alleges the Employment Equity Act had “failed in its goals and mandate to Black employees,” and failed to break down systemic racism in government. The Class is seeking amendments to the act that would clearly protect Black employees. 

Current employees like Erica Ifill, a policy analyst at Innovation, Science, and Economic Development Canada (ISED) who has been with the department since Feb. 2019, are also considering joining the class action.

In an open letter she accused the department of harassing, bullying and surveilling her for most of her time there, and that she was “denied development opportunities and promotions.”

The class action has not yet been certified. The government has issued a statement to the Hill Times saying it would consider future mediation. It added that systemic racism and discrimination is a “painful lived reality for Black Canadians, racialized Canadians and Indigenous people.” 

The government said it had taken steps to address anti-Black racism, systemic discrimination and injustice, including assigning $12 million over three years towards a diversity and inclusion center in the Federal Public Service.

As well as asking the government to set up a $900M fund, lawyers for the plaintiffs are also asking for a Black Equity Commission to be appointed to investigate structures of racism in government; an outlet for Black employees to tell their stories and an independent body to report racism. 

The class action lawsuit is also asking the Canadian government to set a policy whereby the number of Black employees is at least 3.8 percent of total staff — representative of the population. 

Have you experienced discrimination while working as a public servant? Let us know the comment section below.

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