TORONTO, Jan. 22, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- A Statement of Claim (the claim) was issued on January 20, 2003 in Ontario Superior Court of Justice for damages and other relief arising from an alleged breach of agreements with former employees of Atlas Specialty Steels, a division of Slater Stainless Corp., to provide certain amounts claimed under their severance deals. The plaintiff in this action is represented by Kirk Baert and Susan Philpott of the law firm of Koskie Minsky.
The plaintiff is bringing this action under the Class Proceedings Act, 1992 on behalf of a class consisting of certain former members of the Slater Stainless Corp. Pension Plan for Salaried Employees whose employment was terminated between August 1, 2000 and September 17, 2001 and who were provided with severance packages as part of their terminations. The plaintiff alleges that these severance packages included a promise to pay amounts described as a portion of the Plan surplus on partial wind-up of the Plan.
The claim, which has yet to be proven in court, states that the defendant has not paid all of the promised amounts owing under the severance agreement, including the payment of surplus. The plaintiff alleges that this constitutes a breach of his contract with the defendant.
These employees not only had their employment terminated, but now their expectations of some financial security for the future have diminished, said Mr. Baert.
Koskie Minsky is widely acknowledged as one of Canada's pre-eminent firms in the areas of civil litigation, trade union labour law and pension and benefits.