The End of a Decade-Long Legal Battle
According to the British media The Guardian, the Canadian airline WestJet would have agreed to compensate its flight attendants with C$4.5 million Canadian dollars to put an end to a class-action lawsuit that lasted a decade. The agreement comes after complaints indicating that the company failed to maintain a safe work environment.
A judge in the Canadian province of British Columbia would have approved the terms of the agreement this Monday, which was finalized on June 22, 2026 after months of negotiation. The payment will be distributed among the 3,452 flight attendants who make up the lawsuit, once legal expenses and fees are deducted. Under British Columbia law, the lawsuit included all flight attendants who worked for the company between April 4, 2014 and February 28, 2021.
Understanding a Class-Action Lawsuit
A class-action lawsuit is a legal mechanism that allows a large group of people with similar claims to present their case in a unified manner through a representative. In this context, the ruling benefits more than three thousand workers without each one having to start an individual trial, saving time and ensuring equal treatment for all affected parties.
The Serious Allegations Reported
The lawsuit was driven by Mandalena Lewis, a former flight attendant who reported being sexually assaulted by a WestJet pilot during a layover in Hawaii in 2010, when she was 25 years old. According to court documents, the same pilot would also have assaulted another flight attendant in 2008. Although Lewis reported the incident, the airline would have kept the pilot on duty, exposing other employees to risk.
Lewis filed the class-action lawsuit in April 2016 after discovering that other colleagues had experienced similar situations. She was fired that same year for alleged gross insubordination, a fact that her legal team considers a retaliation for trying to demand accountability from the company.
Settlement Conditions and Future Changes
Although the agreement did not include an admission of wrongdoing by the airline nor the implementation of mandatory anti-harassment training for pilots, as the original lawsuit demanded, WestJet committed to hiring a third-party entity to conduct a workplace investigation. This inquiry will evaluate the prevalence of harassment, the level of underreporting, and how to improve the effectiveness of reporting systems.
In a public statement, the company reportedly expressed its commitment to strengthening its operations and training, focusing on the well-being of its employees and the advancement of a culture of empowerment.
A Systemic Issue in the Industry
The case highlighted a historical problem in the airline sector. A survey conducted in 2018 by the Association of Flight Attendants in the United States with more than 3,500 workers revealed that 68 percent had suffered sexual harassment in their careers, although only 7 percent had reported it to their employer. This agreement sets a hopeful precedent for more companies to implement safe and effective reporting channels worldwide, protecting workers and fostering a safer future for everyone.