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In Canada: Deloitte sued in document reviewer class action; treating hundreds of document reviewers as contractors when they were, in reality, employees

Contract attorney fracas

 

13 March 2015 – Deloitte and a document review company it acquired a year ago are alleged to have saved millions of dollars by treating hundreds of document reviewers as contractors when they were, in reality, employees based in their offices.

Deloitte acquired ATD Legal Services in January 2014. Representative plaintiff Shireen Sondhi, a lawyer based in Toronto, claims that she and hundreds of fellow document reviewers were mis-categorised as independent workers – with the result that the businesses saved large sums in payroll deductions and in not having to offer labour protections, holidays and overtime.

Supervised in Deloitte offices

Counsel for the plaintiff, Andrew Monkhouse, said in a statement: ‘These workers were supervised in Deloitte’s offices, they didn’t provide their own tools, or control their own schedules.’  The statement from Mr Monkhouse continued: ‘For many young lawyers, saddled with staggering student debt and desperate not to leave the field of law, document review is a last resort. Deloitte is one of only a few document review companies in Ontario, and for many Class Members, represents their sole source of income.’

Source: Canadian Lawyer