Weyerhaeuser sued by 13 former employees
Thirteen former employees of Weyerhaeuser's Kamloops mill are suing the company for lost pension and retirement money.
The group alleges in the suit a contract of employment that entitled the workers to employment benefits was cancelled without proper notice when Weyerhaeuser sold the mill to Domtar on March 7, 2007.
The benefits, according to the documents filed in court, include:
• A five per cent match to the group registered retirement-savings plan, the investment growth plan and the flex-plan account;
• A Weyerhaeuser-defined benefit pension; and
• Tax savings from the flex plan account contributions.
The document states there was "an express or implied term of the contract that Weyerhaeuser would not terminate the contract without providing reasonable notice of such termination."
Benefits provided to Weyerhaeuser staff who accepted employment with the new owner are less than what they had been receiving, the suit alleges.
The lawsuit seeks general and special damages, interest, costs and any other relief the court wants to make.
The 13 people filing the suit are Jon Demarcos, Kristin Danglemaier, Raymond Daneluk, Brian Bray, Estelle Berube, Paul Barker, Brent Zahnd, Zane Turiff, Arthur Thomson, La-Hung Sun, Lloyd Speer, Dennis Seib and Gregory Seebach.
The suits were filed on Monday, March 4, and Weyerhaeuser has three weeks from that date to file a response.
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