Summary

40385

N. Turenne Brique et Pierre inc., et al. v. FTQ-Construction

(Quebec) (Civil) (By Leave)

Keywords

Civil procedure — Class actions — Compensatory damages — Recovery method — Proposed changes to construction workers’ working conditions leading to disruption of work on construction sites — Workers and employers bringing class action for damage caused by work stoppage — Superior Court finding that strike was illegal and that union had committed fault of omission — Court of Appeal intervening to order individual recovery of damages rather than collective recovery — Whether application for leave to appeal raises question of public importance.

Summary

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A class action was brought against the respondent, FTQ-Construction (“FTQ”), the largest Quebec union federation of workers in the construction industry, to determine whether it was liable for damage caused to a series of workers and employers (“applicants”) as a result of the disruption and closure of construction sites in October 2011. The disruption followed the introduction of a provincial bill whose purpose was to change the working conditions of construction workers. The FTQ launched a campaign to oppose the bill after it was introduced. The trial judge found that the strike by the workers who had left the construction sites, thereby causing their closure, was illegal. He also found that the FTQ was at fault for failing to take the necessary steps to end the illegal strike as quickly as possible. The Court of Appeal upheld those findings, but it struck out the amount awarded and ordered the individual recovery of compensatory damages by the workers. In its view, the expert evidence did not allow a sufficiently precise determination of the total claim amount.

Lower Court Rulings

June 11, 2020
Superior Court of Quebec

2020 QCCS 1794, 500-06-000586-111
Class action allowed
July 13, 2022
Court of Appeal of Quebec (Montréal)

2022 QCCA 1014, 500-09-029148-202
Principal appeal allowed in part