Class action over unpaid overtime at BMO Nesbitt Burns certified

An Ontario court has certified a class action against BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc. involving unpaid overtime.

Lawyers say the class action covers more than 1,500 current and former investment advisers, associate investment advisers and investment adviser trainees employed by Nesbitt Burns since 2002.

Koskie Minsky LLP and Eli Karp at Merchant Law are representing the plaintiff in the action.

They say Justice Edward Belobaba of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice certified the class action after finding that all three of the employee groups were "excluded from overtime under the Nesbitt overtime policy because they are paid in whole or in part on commission."

The plaintiff alleges that Nesbitt Burns breached its duties to the class members by systematically and improperly denying overtime to the class.

The allegations have not been proven. However, the certification decision will allow the case to proceed as a class action.

Yegal Rosen, a former investment adviser with Nesbitt Burns from 2002 to 2006, has been appointed as the lead representative plaintiff in the action.

Plaintiff lawyers say that during his time with Nesbitt Burns, Rosen never received overtime compensation even though he worked between 60 and 80 hours a week.