The workers are seeking severance or termination pay from their former employer. The employees allege that BlackBerry misled them when they accepted a transfer to Ford Motor Company of Canada, as part of a strategic partnership through the former’s QNX automotive software platform. BlackBerry allegedly told workers that refusing Ford’s offer wouldn’t guarantee them continued employment with BlackBerry; Ford, meanwhile, allegedly claimed that if they accepted the Ford offer, they would not be entitled to retain seniority or other such benefits they’d acquired at BlackBerry. The original notice of action, filed in 2017, sought both punitive damages and severance benefits for the terminated employees. (BNN Bloomberg, Globe and Mail)

Talking point: It’ll be the trial judge’s decision whether BlackBerry’s transfer was designed to end the plaintiffs’ employment without having to pay them severance. That will be difficult to prove, according to Justice Michel Charbonneau, who allowed the suit to proceed, though he said the theory is “not without merit.” Nelligan O’Brien Payne LLP, the law firm representing the plaintiffs, said it has advised others this week that they can still join the suit; the firm claimed in 2017 that over 100 workers in Ottawa, and at least 200 elsewhere in Canada, were affected.