Superior Court ruling could cost Quebec millions in unpaid severance

The Quebec government could well be on the hook for millions in unpaid severance after a Quebec Superior Court justice threw out a regulation aimed at reducing severance packages.

The rule, adopted in 2015, came into effect just before the sweeping Bill 10 healthcare reform began and served to reduce severance from 24 to 12 months.

According to The Canadian Press, the reforms led to the elimination of around 3,800 positions as hospitals and clinics underwent mergers and lost senior executives.

In a decision issued Thursday, Justice Suzanne Ouellet ruled that the Health Ministry pushed the regulation through without proper consultation.

"The court concluded that the consultation process was ignored by the [Ministry]," she wrote. "The race against time did not justify ... breaching the obligation to consult."

Health Minister Gaétan Barrette's office issued a statement saying the ministry would "analyze, in the allotted time, how to proceed."

The ministry has 30 days to appeal.

'A great victory'

Chantal Marchand, director of the association representing managers in the health care system (AGESSS), called the judge's decision "a great victory," saying the group is "very proud" to have fought for its members.

The association, which represents 7,000 people, challenged the regulation in April 2015. The group accused Barrette of "turning a deaf ear and proceeding without consultation."

Marchand told reporters Friday that the government took away their right to negotiate working conditions as guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

"It's clear that this judgement is a reaffirmation of the necessity of mandatory consultation," she said.

The right to consultation and negotiating is based on a Supreme Court ruling from 2007, which saw health unions in British Columbia pitted against highly contentious labour legislation.