Judge rules CHL must release detailed team finances
Canadian Hockey League teams are offside in withholding detailed financial records that are being sought by players seeking a minimum wage from them, a judge ruled Tuesday.
Justice Robert Hall said the teams, based across Canada, must unseal those records included in 7,000 pages of documents to provide a clear indication of their financial status.
He rejected league counsel Norman Machida’s contention such a disclosure would hurt the teams’ competitive position and noted the league had used the information to publicly lobby in its favour.
“The defendants are making use of the documents, so it would be entirely unfair not to allow the plaintiffs to use these documents in reply,” Hall told Court of Queen’s Bench.
He also said those records should be specified with each individual team, something Machida had argued against.
More than 200 current and former players have signalled their willingness to pursue a $180-million class action lawsuit that has yet to be certified.
They’ve named the CHL along with its member Western, Quebec Major Junior and Ontario hockey leagues.
Hall is presiding over the argument on whether that class action will be certified with the would-be plaintiff players claiming they’re business employees rather than amateur athletes the league insists they are.
Earlier, Machida argued two reports on the teams’ financial posture already showed most of them are either money losers or break-even clubs.
“There would be a significant financial impact on the teams if a minimum wage was imposed,” he said, adding the average loss recorded by the clubs is $91,000 a year. A minimum wage would cost each team $300,000 a year and wouldn’t be sustainable, said Machida.
But the players’ lawyer Ted Charney said that wouldn’t be clear until all the financial records were released, arguing it’s possible the figures made public are based on selective and incomplete data.
The disclosure of the documents ordered by Hall will likely take a few days as personal information is redacted.