Nearly 50 former Bell employees have filed suit claiming RTO firings were economically motivated
Nearly 50 former Bell employees have launched legal action against parent company BCE Inc., alleging their dismissals for alleged attendance fraud were part of a broader cost-cutting strategy rather than a genuine enforcement of the company's code of conduct. None of the fired workers were replaced and their positions were eliminated, the lawyer representing them in the lawsuit told HRD Canada.
The development escalates a controversy that has drawn national attention to the limits of return-to-office (RTO) enforcement in Canadian workplaces.
The 46 plaintiffs, most based in the Toronto area, filed documents in Ontario Superior Court of Justice claiming more than $6 million in damages combined, according to the Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star. Their tenures ranged from two to 32 years, in roles spanning sales, software engineering, project management, and human resources. Damages sought by individual plaintiffs range from roughly $18,000 to $350,000 depending on salary and length of service, according to the lawsuit’s statement of claim.
BCE has maintained the terminations were for clear, individual violations of its code of conduct and were not economically motivated.
Bell fired the employees for what it called "swipe-and-go" behaviour — using access badges to tap into the office to satisfy a three-days-per-week RTO requirement, then leaving...
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