A class action suit has been launched that, if successful, could see more than 10,000 injured and disabled workers claiming damages from the province’s Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB).
The suit, filed last week in BC Supreme Court, targets a 2001 policy change that, it argues, has made it virtually impossible for claimants to obtain interest on retroactive awards.
Deborah Lockyer-Kash is the representative plaintiff of a class of injured and disabled workers who have been denied interest on retroactive pension and wage loss awards since November 1, 2001.
According to the suit, the class amounts to more than 10,000 individuals.
“The class grows daily,” the suit adds.
The plaintiff is seeking:
- an order that the action be certified as a class proceeding;
- a declaration that the “blatant error” test used in determining which claimants get interest on retroactive awards is “patently unreasonable”;
- a declaration that the plaintiff and members of the class are entitled to interest on their retroactive pension and wage loss awards;
- a declaration that, in the introduction and maintenance of the new interest policy “blatant error” test for entitlement to interest, the WCB board of directors have acted in abuse of their statutory powers; and
- damages.
None of these allegations has been proven in court.
