Nearly 50 former Bell employees have filed a lawsuit against parent company, BCE, alleging wrongful dismissal.
The employees claim they were terminated without cause after being accused of falsifying attendance records in compliance with the company’s return-to-office requirements.
The lawsuit maintains the so-called “swipe-and-go” terminations allegedly occurred as part of broader cost-cutting measures.
According to the Statement of Claim for 46 former Bell employees, the firings unfairly targeted employees, who were made an example of, including retroactive punishment for previously-tolerated workplace practices like “coffee badging,” where employees would visit the office briefly to clock in and then continue working from home.
“It is our position that these terminations are economically motivated, with the alleged conduct being condoned by management for years until Bell decided it was convenient to fire employees without providing them with their statutory and common law rights,” Toronto law firm De Bousquet PC said in a statement.
According to the Statement of Claim, a Bell whistleblower shared internal documents with De Bousquet, producing instructions to dismiss roughly 30 employees per office, with at least one worker per team targeted to set an example for remaining staff.
The suit seeks more than $6 million in damages combined, with employees seeking to be paid out for what they say should have been a reasonable notice period, and damages ranging from $18,000 to $350,000 depending on tenure and position. Those involved in the suit worked with the company for between two and 32 years, in roles ranging from sales and human resources to engineering and project management.
The firings preceded BCE’s announcement last week it was slashing nearly 700 positions across multiple departments as part of a three-year growth strategy.
The company has 20 days to file a statement of defence once served.
De Bousquet is inviting any non-unionized former Bell employees impacted by the recent terminations to contact them.
