A Canadian court has approved a C$4.5 million settlement in a decade-long class action brought on behalf of thousands of current and former female WestJet flight attendants, ending a long-running legal battle over allegations the airline failed to provide the harassment-free workplace it had promised its employees.
WestJet has agreed to pay C$4.5 million (around £2.4 million) to settle a class action involving 3,452 current and former female flight attendants after the Supreme Court of British Columbia approved the agreement on August 10.
The long-running case, Lewis v WestJet Airlines Ltd., was brought by former WestJet flight attendant Mandalena Lewis and centred on allegations that the Canadian carrier breached its employment contracts by failing to implement and enforce its own anti-harassment policies adequately. WestJet has denied the allegations, which were never determined at trial, and the settlement does not constitute an admission of liability or wrongdoing.
Under the terms approved by the court, WestJet will pay C$4.5 million into a settlement fund. However, that figure will not simply be divided between the thousands of crew covered by the action.
Court-approved legal fees, disbursements, taxes, administration costs and a C$10,000 honorarium for Lewis will first be deducted. Class counsel currently estimates that each eligible flight attendant submitting a valid claim will receive approximately C$470. However, the final amount could change depending on costs and the number of claims submitted.
A Case Stretching Back More Than a Decade
Lewis launched the class action in April 2016 following allegations relating to her own experience at the airline.
According to court documents cited by The Guardian, Lewis alleged that a WestJet pilot sexually assaulted her during a layover in Hawaii in 2010, when she was 25. She claimed the same pilot had previously assaulted another flight attendant in 2008. Lewis said she reported the alleged assault to WestJet but claimed the pilot remained employed and continued flying.
WestJet later dismissed Lewis in 2016 for what court documents filed by the airline described as “gross insubordination”. Lewis and her legal team alleged her dismissal was retaliation for her attempts to hold the company accountable over its handling of her complaint.
The class action subsequently focused not on determining the individual sexual assault allegations but on whether WestJet had breached a contractual promise to its female flight attendants by failing to properly design, implement and maintain a programme intended to prevent workplace harassment, investigate complaints and enforce its policies.
After an earlier attempt to certify the case was rejected, the British Columbia Court of Appeal ruled in April 2022 that it could proceed as a class action.
The class ultimately covers current and former female flight attendants employed by WestJet mainline between April 4, 2014 and February 28, 2021, provided they did not previously opt out of the proceedings.
Independent Workplace Review
The settlement also requires WestJet to appoint an independent, suitably qualified third party to conduct an assessment of its workplace.
That review will look at the prevalence of harassment within the airline, the extent to which incidents may go unreported and ways in which WestJet’s systems for reporting and responding to harassment could be made more effective. Employees will receive a summary of the findings.
However, several measures originally sought through the litigation are not included in the settlement.
According to The Guardian, the action had called for mandatory anti-harassment training for pilots as well as admissions from WestJet that it had committed wrongdoing and breached its employment contracts. None form part of the final agreement.
Some class members had opposed the proposed settlement when it came before the court earlier this year, arguing that the financial award was too low and that the agreement did not provide sufficient accountability.
Lewis herself expressed disappointment following its approval, telling The Guardian: “We didn’t get justice here.” She said mounting legal costs had played a role in accepting the settlement after almost a decade of litigation.
WestJet Responds
WestJet said it was pleased that a mutually agreed settlement had been reached and stressed its commitment to improving training, employee safety and wellbeing and creating what it described as a culture of empowerment.
The airline has not admitted liability as part of the agreement.
There is now a mandatory 30-day period following the August 10 court approval before the settlement becomes final. Deloitte has been appointed as the independent claims administrator and will subsequently contact eligible class members with instructions on how to submit a claim. Crew will then have three months from the date that notice is issued to apply for their payment.
For an industry in which cabin crew spend much of their working lives in close quarters with colleagues, often away from home on overnight layovers, the case has once again put the issue of workplace harassment — and crucially, how airlines respond when crew report it — firmly under the spotlight.
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