The Following is an portion of the article written by: Martin Cash
By: Martin Cash
Posted: 1:00 AM CDT Friday, Oct. 26, 2012
Manitoba Telecom Services pensioners have succeeded in keeping the fight alive in their battle with the company after being granted leave to appeal their case to the Supreme Court of Canada. The 14-year legal dispute is over the disposition of a $43.3-million pension
surplus that existed when the company transformed itself from a Crown corporation into a publicly traded corporation. In addition to the interest that would have accrued since 1997, the total amount at stake is close to $100 million.
In January 2010, the Court of Queen’s Bench ruled MTS had to repay that amount and interest dating back to 1997. But in February, the Manitoba Court of Appeal overturned the lower-court ruling saying there was no breach of an original memorandum of agreement. Now the pensioners can file an appeal with the Supreme Court.
Kris Saxberg, a lawyer representing three unions and retirees and the lead plaintiff, retiree Harry Restall, said it is a rare event to have an application for leave to appeal a civil matter heard by the country’s highest court.
“It is a major, major accomplishment,”
Saxberg said.
At issue is the status of an agreement made at the time about the use of the surplus. Saxberg said a positive result will mean significant benefits to all MTS retirees.
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