The B.C. Supreme Courtroom has ordered WestJet at hand over all its recordsdata on harassment of flight attendants, in a class-action lawsuit alleging widespread misconduct by pilots.
The ruling by Justice Jacqueline Hughes says WestJet has been gradual and “probably adversarial” relating to the paperwork and it’s unclear why criticism recordsdata haven’t been produced in a well timed method.
The underlying declare within the long-running lawsuit, filed in 2016, alleges WestJet breached flight attendants’ contracts by breaking a “promise” to supply a harassment-free office.
The ruling posted Friday however dated Dec. 11 says the airline tried to restrict doc manufacturing to complaints towards male pilots by feminine flight attendants who haven’t opted out of the lawsuit.
However Hughes ordered the airline to supply all harassment complaints by flight attendants through the class interval, from April 4, 2014, to Feb. 28, 2021, no matter whom they had been towards.
The ruling says WestJet has handed over 24 harassment complaints, however the firm’s personal “inner statistics” point out there have been “considerably extra” throughout that interval.
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The ruling says a few of these complaints contain sexual harassment and sexual assault, and the corporate’s personal paperwork define 16 complaints within the final three months of 2018, and 19 within the first quarter of 2022 alone.
Hughes discovered the airline’s slowness producing paperwork was an element within the trial being delayed till October 2025.
Lead plaintiff Mandalena Lewis had utilized to the courtroom to have the airline hand over all harassment criticism recordsdata for its “complete workforce,” however Hughes dominated that the case solely entails alleged breaches of the flight attendants’ employment contracts, not these of different employees.
“It stays unclear how the plaintiff says WestJet’s alleged failure to supply a harassment‑free office for e.g. mechanics, is related as to if WestJet breached the anti-harassment promise at school members’ employment contracts,” the ruling says.
Nevertheless, Hughes stated she was glad the scope was not restricted to harassment complaints by class members towards male pilots, as WestJet needed.
“Whereas the facility imbalance allegedly created by that individual relationship clearly performs a central position within the plaintiff’s declare, I discover that it isn’t restricted to solely these complaints,” she stated.
She gave the corporate 45 days to show over the extra recordsdata, “given the vacation interval.”
© 2025 The Canadian Press
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