Written By Ranjan K. Agarwal, Jason W.J. Woycheshyn and Amanda C. McLachlan

In a decision that marks the first of its kind, on August 20, 2013, Justice Belobaba of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice certified a class action alleging that BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc. failed to pay overtime to a group of 1,500 current and former Investment Advisors. The decision in Rosen v BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc. follows on the heels of a tumultuous period in which the Supreme Court of Canada denied leave to appeal certification in two “off-the-clock” overtime cases and the Superior Court of Justice, Divisional Court and the Court of Appeal of Ontario declined to certify two “misclassification” cases, including a case premised on a group of similarly situated employees in Brown v Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. Published in Labour Notes (Number 1482).