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Hamilton Street Railway/OMERS Pension Class Proceeding
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To contact us please call 1 888 723 4304 or send us an
e-mail. |
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Updated: November 22, 2007
The application was scheduled for hearing on common issues #1 - 5 in the
Ontario Superior Court of Justice on November 13-16, 2007. The parties attended
a pre-trial conference on November 9, 2007 with Justice Campbell, and agreed to
adjourn the hearing pending the continuation of good faith settlement
discussions between the parties. The parties have decided to appoint a mutually
agreeable mediator and to exchange all information necessary to assist in
settling the application. The case remains under the supervision of Justice
Campbell, or such other judge of the Commercial List.
On June 29, 2006 the Ontario Superior Court of Justice certified a class
proceeding against The Corporation of the City of Hamilton and Ontario
Municipal Employees Retirement Board (the Respondents) on behalf of all
persons, wherever resident, who on or between July 1, 1965, and June 29, 2006
accrued a benefit in respect of The Hamilton Street Railway Pension Plan (1994)
and its predecessor pension plans (the "HSR Plan") (collectively, the "Plan
Members"), and the annuitants, spouses, estates and beneficiaries of such Plan
Members (the "Class Members").
To see a copy of the Certification Order, please click on the
"Documents" tab on the left panel of this screen.
Summary of the Claim
Budh Singh Dhillon and Charan Singh Mangat have been appointed as the
Representative Applicants on behalf of the Class in connection with a court
application against the Respondents. The application concerns the alleged
failure of the City to enrol Class members in the Ontario Municipal Employees
Retirement System (the "OMERS Plan") as it may have been required to do under
applicable by-laws, statutes, pension plan rules and other applicable laws. The
Representative Applicants are seeking various forms of declaratory relief,
including an order that Class Members are required to be enrolled in the OMERS
Plan. The Representative Applicants are also seeking damages from the City (and
not from OMERS), payable to Class members for any pension losses. These matters
have not yet been determined by a court.
There is more important information about the application which can be read in
the Notice of Certification available
here.
Class Members and Right to Opt Out
Any affected person who wishes to opt out of the class action as certified must
do so by sending a written and signed Notice of Intention to Opt-Out to Koskie
Minsky LLP on or before September 1, 2006 to the following address:
KOSKIE MINSKY LLP
Barristers and Solicitors
Suite 900, 20 Queen Street West
Toronto, ON M5H 3R3
Attention: Hamilton Street Railway/OMERS Pension Class Proceedings
indicating that he or she is opting out of the class action as certified. No
person may opt out a minor or a mentally incapable person without permission of
the Court after notice to the Children's Lawyer and/or the Public Trustee, as
appropriate.
Affected persons who opt out will not be bound by any decision of the Court in
the action and may not benefit from any such decision or a settlement.
Any affected person who does not opt out prior to the above date will be a class
member and will be bound by the Court's judgment, whether favourable or not.
Please note that there are no legal costs to you if you are a Class Member.
Class members will have an opportunity to opt-out of the class if they so
desire, but will be required to retain their own counsel or act on their own
behalf to pursue the claim.
If you do not wish to be part of the class, you may still be entitled to
participate in the proceeding. Such participation is subject to the Court's
approval. You may wish to obtain independent legal advice with respect to this
matter.
If you have any questions regarding this action please call our hotline number
at 1-888-723-4304 where you can leave us a confidential voice message. You can
also email us at hamiltonpension@kmlaw.ca or fax us at 416 204-2897 or contact
us by mail at Hamilton Street Railway/OMERS Pension Class Proceedings c/o
Koskie Minsky LLP, 20 Queen Street West, Suite 900, Toronto, Ontario M5H 3R3.
To view more information about how class actions work, please click here.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
This website has been developed to provide general information to Class
Members.
The site is not designed to answer questions about your individual situation or
entitlement. Do not rely upon the information provided on this web site as
legal advice in respect of your individual situation nor use it as a substitute
for individual legal advice.
This website will be updated from time to time to provide Class Members with
information as it becomes available.
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