Desjardins Negative Vacation Bank Class Action
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Frequently Asked Questions

A notice was issued to advise Class Members that a settlement was approved in a class action. A settlement has been reached between the representative plaintiff and Desjardins. The notice explains the hearing and your rights in respect of the settlement. The settlement and fees payable to class counsel were approved by the Court on November 3, 2025.

The case is known as James Davis v. Desjardins Financial Services Firm et al., Court File No. CV-21-00002102-00CP. The person who sued, James Davis, is called the Plaintiff. Desjardins is the Defendant.  The employers at issue are Desjardins Financial Services Firm Inc., Desjardins Global Asset Management, The Personal Insurance Company, Desjardins Financial Security, Desjardins Securities Inc., Caisse Centrale Desjardins, Fédération des caisses Desjardins du Québec, Collabria Financial Services Inc., Desjardins Shared Services Group Inc., Desjardins Technology Group Inc., Desjardins Financial Security Life Assurance Company, and Desjardins Investment Product Operations Inc., and Assistel Inc.

The lawsuit alleges that Desjardins’ vacation bank policy was improper. It advanced vacation time to employees in a negative vacation bank at the outset of their employment which had to be repaid during their employment or was recovered by Desjardins at the end of their employment.

Desjardins denies any liability and denies the truth of the allegations made against it.

The settlement resolves the litigation entirely.

In a class action, one person called the “representative plaintiff” (in this case, James Davis) sues the “Defendant” (in this case, Desjardins) on behalf of a group of people  who have similar claims. All of these people are a “class” or “class members.” The court resolves the issues for all class members in one case, except for those who remove themselves from the class by opting out.

The Class is defined as:

All employees outside of Quebec who were employed by Desjardins Financial Services Firm Inc., Desjardins Global Asset Management, The Personal Insurance Company, Desjardins Financial Security, Desjardins Securities Inc., Caisse Centrale Desjardins, Fédération des caisses Desjardins du Québec, Collabria Financial Services Inc., Desjardins Shared Services Group Inc., Desjardins Technology Group Inc., Desjardins Financial Security Life Assurance Company, and Desjardins Investment Product Operations Inc., and Assistel Inc. (collectively “Desjardins”)  between May 1, 2011 and August 13, 2017, were subject to the Policy and who were terminated or left Desjardins prior to the date of April 24, 2025, other than those who executed a termination agreement releasing their claims for vacation pay on or before July 31, 2024.

The Court has approved the settlement reached by the representative plaintiff and Desjardins in this matter under which Desjardins will pay $7,597,469.85 to settle this lawsuit. These funds will be used to pay the claims of former employees of Desjardins with negative vacation balances who have left Desjardins on or prior to April 24, 2025.

By April 2, 2026, Desjardins will eliminate the negative balance of vacation hours advanced at the outset of employment under the Policy for any Current Employee of Desjardins by reducing the amount of the vacation bank hours advanced to the employee under the Policy to zero or by issuing a credit.

The parties have received court approval of the settlement and the fees payable to class counsel on November 3, 2025. The settlement is a compromise of disputed claims and settles, extinguishes, and bars all claims relating in any way to or arising out of the class action against Desjardins.

If the case had not settled (or if the proposed settlement was not approved), the Plaintiff would have had to seek certification on a contested basis and then prove his claims and the claims of other class members against Desjardins. There is no guarantee that the Plaintiff would win any money or benefits for the class at trial.

The parties have received approval from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice for a method of distributing the settlement funds to Class Members.

The settlement provides that:

  • To receive payment, class members must submit a claim form, available here;
  • The Class Administrator will receive these claims and review the records provided by Desjardins to corroborate the information contained therein;
  • The Class Administrator will send a notification letter to each Class Member to explain what they concluded concerning the Class Member’s number of points under the agreement;
  • If the Class Member disagrees with the Class Administrator’s assessment, they can file an appeal;
  • Once all appeals are resolved, the Class Administrator will calculate the estimated amount each Class Member is entitled to under a pre-determined formula

Under the proposed settlement, the Defendants will pay an all-inclusive amount of $7 million agreed at mediation and four additional amounts as follows: (i) an additional $28,928.34 which is the amount agreed to in relation to certain data adjustments provided following mediation, and (ii) an additional amount calculated for the former employees who left Desjardins between September 17, 2024 and April 24, 2025, which will compensate them for the negative vacation bank shown in Desjardins’ records, of $493,476.00, (iii) an additional top-up amount for certain omitted Class Members of $41,960.38, (iv) an additional top up of $14,873.71 for certain anomalies in the data initially considered by Desjardins for a total of $7,597,469.85 (“Gross Settlement Funds”) to former employees who left Desjardins prior to April 24, 2025 with negative vacation balances.  The Gross Settlement Funds and less court-approved legal fees, funding fees, disbursements, honorarium, administration expenses and applicable taxes are available for compensation to eligible Settlement Class Members (“Net Settlement Funds”).

The amount each Class Member will receive will depend on a few factors:

  • The number of Class Members who make a claim;
  • The size of the Class Member’s negative vacation bank deducted;
  • If the Class Member left Desjardins prior or after January 1, 2019;
  • The amount left from the Net Proceeds for distribution after the value of the claims made by the Class Members who left Desjardins on or after January 1, 2019 is deducted (the “Residual Amount”).

Class Members who left Desjardins on or after January 1, 2019 will receive the equivalent of the negative vacation bank deducted less applicable statutory deductions.

Class Members who left Desjardins prior to January 1, 2019 will receive an amount proportional to the negative vacation bank deducted relative to the Residual Amount less applicable statutory deductions.


To be eligible to receive a payment under the settlement, you must complete a Claim Form by March 25, 2026.

You may submit a Claim Form online here. You may also mail a paper copy of the Claim Form to the Class Administrator. A PDF version of the Claim Form is available for download on the Documents page.

The deadline to opt out of the lawsuit was July 27, 2025. You can no longer submit an Opt Out Form.

If you do not make a claim by March 25, 2026, you will not be able to claim under the settlement and you will be barred to make claims against Desjardins.

The Class Administrator is aware of a technical problem preventing class members from submitting their claim form. The issue should now be resolved. If you are aware of any further technical problems, please contact the Class Administrator: 

Verita Global 

Phone: 1-888-808-8970

Email: [email protected]

This class action only pertains to the negative vacation bank. You will not receive compensation from this class action for issues not pertaining to the negative vacation bank.

Claims will be processed after the Claims Deadline of March 25, 2026. Class Members will receive a Notification Letter within 90 days of the Claims Deadline. The Notification Letter will set out the determination of the Class Member’s work history and estimated claim amount based on the Claim Administrator’s review. Class Members will then have 30 days to appeal their determination. Payments will be made 60 days after the appeal process is complete.

It is estimated that payments will be issued in the fourth quarter of 2026, the precise timing depends on the timing of the determination of the appeals.

The Claims Administrator will review the documents provided by Desjardins, Class Members' claim forms and accompanying documents, if any. The Class Administrator will then issue a Notification Letter within 90 days of the Claims Deadline, outlining the determination of the claim and an estimate of the number of points allocated to the claim which will ultimately determine the compensation amount.

No, it is not mandatory to submit a pay stub. 

Yes, you must provide a copy of your government-issued photo ID. We must verify your identity. You do not need to provide banking information if you do not wish to receive a direct deposit payment.

Yes. If you do not submit direct deposit information, a cheque will be issued using the information from the claim form.

Yes. Monkhouse Law Employment Lawyers from Toronto represent Class Members as “Class Counsel.”

You will not have to personally pay any additional amount for Class Counsel’s fees or expenses. Class Counsel’s fees and expenses will be deducted from the Settlement. The Court approved the lawyers’ fees pursuant to a contingency fee retainer agreement that they entered into with the Plaintiff. The approved fees were $2,453,615.83.

You can get more information about this case by contacting Class Counsel or the Class Administrator.