Introduction

This certified class action suit was launched against B.C. Rail Ltd.on behalf of almost a thousand retired and deferred vested members of the B.C. Rail Pension Plan in order to remedy the alleged unfair allocation of pension fund surplus.

B.C. Rail amended the terms of the Pension Plan on July 1, 1998 to suspend its obligations and the obligations of Active Members to make financial contributions to help fund the Pension Plan. The ongoing contributions were made from a large surplus of funds that had accumulated in the Pension Plan. This surplus accumulated in the Pension Plan, in part, as a result of contributions of the retired and deferred vested members.

According to the Pension Plan 2002 Annual Report, the Plan still had a surplus of $151.7 million even after years of suspended contributions. The 2002 Annual Report projected that the surplus would continue beyond December 31, 2004.

This suit seeks an order to reallocate the surplus in an impartial and even-handed manner among all plan members.

Klein Lyons is working on this lawsuit in conjunction with leading pension lawyers from the Toronto law firm of Koskie Minsky.

The Klein Lyons Newsletter