Workers proceed with $10M suit against Denny’s operator

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – A $10-million class-action lawsuit against the company operating Denny’s Restaurants and Dencan Restaurants in BC has been given certification by Supreme Court of BC Justice Shelley Fitzpatrick.

That means 75 temporary foreign workers can take Northland Properties Corporation to court.

According to court documents, plaintiff Herminia Vergara Dominguez was recruited from the Philippines to work in Denny’s restaurants and had to pay thousands of dollars in recruitment fees. She and other workers claim they were never reimbursed for the recruitment fees, paid for overtime or given promised work hours.

Their lawyer, Charles Gordon, says Justice Fitzpatrick’s decision is significant.

“You’ve got a group all with the same types of claims against their employer, they can get a lawyer and they can proceed to enforce their claims,” Gordon says. “That’s what is significant about the decision.”

Gordan adds the class-action lawsuit could have wide implications for all foreign workers.

“This I’m hoping would provide an example to temporary foreign workers who may have been taken advantage of, that this is an effective means by which they can enforce their right,” he says.

The defendants say they have offered to reimburse travel expenses and argued against allowing the suit to proceed as a class action. They say the size of the action was too small and the claims could be dealt with individually.

• A copy of Madam Justice Fitzpatrick’s certification decision and all the Employment Standards Branch determinations are available on the Fiorillo Glavin Gordon website at www.fgglawyers.com and on the Kestrel Workplace Legal Counsel website at www.kwlc.ca