Junior players win $30M in settlement

TORONTO • Major junior hockey players may not be viewed as employees. But as part of a class- action settlement that was resolved after six years of legal battles, thousands of former players are about to be paid as though they were.

Under the settlement, the defendants in the 2014 lawsuit ( the Ontario Hockey League, Western Hockey League and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League) will pay $30 million to players who had been part of the league from around 2012 to as recent as 2020, depending on the province.

“It was a long fought case,” said Joshua Mandryk of Goldblatt Partners LLP. “We’re very happy with the results and what the plaintiffs received. The thousands of players in the class will get their money. It will affect a whole ton of people.”

The settlement, however, will not affect players going forward. Once these lawsuits were filed in 2014, amendments were made to the employee standards legislation stating major junior hockey players are not employees within the meaning of the applicable employment standards legislation, but rather student athletes.

“We launched these class actions to fight for the rights of the players and to make a positive change, and we’re proud of what these lawsuits and this settlement have achieved,” Sam Berg and Lukas Walter, the two initial plaintiffs, said in written statement. “While we can’t do anything about the legislative amendments exempting players from employment standards legislation across the country, this settlement will put millions of dollars into the pockets of the hardworking players.”

The next step is for the settlement to receive court approval.