10:16 AM EDT, 07/17/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Air Canada ( ACDVF ) may be forced to pay at least $100 million (US$73.2 million) to about 2,200 former workers after a Quebec court issued a ruling in their class-action lawsuit against the airline, Bloomberg News reported overnight Tuesday.

It said the amount would cover lost wages, lost benefits, and moral damages related to the closure of Aveos, the carrier's former maintenance contractor. Judge Marie-Christine Hivon released her decision on the calculation of damages this week, it noted.

According to the report, the plaintiffs, the majority of whom are in Montreal, were Aveos employees when it locked out workers and ceased operations in 2012. They argued that Air Canada ( ACDVF ) violated a federal law that had required the airline to maintain those maintenance operations where they were located.

Bloomberg noted Hivon first ruled in the plaintiffs' favour in November 2022. Air Canada ( ACDVF ) has said it plans to appeal that judgment, but an appellate court judge delayed the matter until the damages phase of the original trial was completed.

Based on initial calculations, the minimum the airline would be forced to pay is around $100 million, according to lawyers for the former workers.

But the airline said it's too early to attach a dollar figure to the case. The claims process will take place on a case-by-case basis, the report noted.

(Market Chatter news is derived from conversations with market professionals globally, and/or from other media sources. This information is believed to be from reliable sources but may include rumor and speculation. Accuracy is not guaranteed.)

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