S-Trip employee class action settlement approved by judge

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Update: 

• The Ontario Superior Court of Justice has approved a class action settlement made to resolve claims that the S-Trip youth travel agency misclassified its Canadian employees as volunteers.
• A group of former S-Trip trip leaders proposed the $450,000 class action settlement.  
• A former S-Trip leader claimed their employer violated the Employment Standards Act by allegedly misclassifying them as volunteers, thereby depriving them of benefits and compensation such as wages, overtime, vacation pay and holiday pay.
• The Ontario Superior Court of Justice, who approved the class action settlement, called it “reasonable” and said that its proposed distribution protocol is “well thought out.” 

(January 6, 2022)

Former S-Trip trip leaders are making a push for Class certification in a lawsuit that accuses the youth travel agency of misclassifying Canadian employees as volunteers.

Specifically, plaintiff D’Andra Montaque seeks to represent a Class of trip leaders who worked for S-Trip on trips departing from Ontario on or after May 22, 2016. The court will decide whether or not to certify the proposed Class in April 2020.

Montaque reportedly worked as a trip leader for S-Trip in the summer of 2017. She allegedly staffed a student graduation trip from Toronto to Cayo Coco, Cuba. According to her S-Trip class action lawsuit, Montaque and other trip leaders were wrongly denied sufficient wages based on being labeled as volunteers.

When proposed Class Members signed on with S-Trip, they were allegedly required to sign a “Trip Leader Agreement” which “purports to contract out of their rights under the [Employment Standards Act].” These putative Class Members were reportedly forced to agree that they were not “engaged as an employee” and that “no employment relationship is established” as part of their “volunteer” services to S-Trip.

Although S-Trip classifies their trip leaders as volunteers, Montaque claims that she and other leaders provided essential services and are referred to as “staff.”

“Despite the Trip Leader Agreement which purports to characterize Trip Leaders as ‘volunteers,’ the defendants otherwise use the language of employment to describe the work performed by Class Members,” the S-Trip class action lawsuit claims.

“The Trip Leader position is referred to as a ‘job’; the defendants represent that they are ‘hiring’ destination staff; working for the defendants is referred to as ‘staffing’; and Trip Leaders are referred to as ‘staff.’”

Montaque claims that, by wrongfully classifying trip leaders as volunteers, S-Trip organizers are able to deny sufficient wages.

Wages are reportedly determined based on the number of trips a trip leader has worked. When a trip leader has worked one or two trips, they are paid $150 per program. When a trip leader has worked three or four trips, they are paid $225 per program. When a trip leader has worked five or more trips, they are paid $300 per program.

The S-Trip class action claims that the amount of compensation doesn’t change based on how many hours are worked. In fact, the companies allegedly represent to trip leaders that they will work more than 14 hours in a day. Despite this, S-Trip leaders are allegedly given no way to record their actual hours worked and are not given more compensation when they work significant hours.

Additionally, Montaque claims that she and other trip leaders were forced to pay for their $80 uniform fee out of their stipend. On Montaque’s first trip with S-Trip, she was allegedly paid only $70 after her $80 uniform fee was deducted from her payment.

“The plaintiff is owed significant unpaid wages for her work for the Defendants,” the S-Trip class action lawsuit claims.

Did you work as a trip leader for an S-Trip program which left from Ontario? Let us know in the comment section below.

Montaque and the proposed Class are represented by Charles Sinclair and Joshua Mandryk of Goldblatt Partners LLP.

The Canada S-Trip Class Action Lawsuit is Montaque v. Handa Travel Student Trip Ltd. o/a I Love Travel, et al., Case No. CV-18-00598257-00CP, in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, Canada.

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