In what is being hailed as a victory for private school teachers, a $2.5 million settlement has been reached between Blyth Academy and a group of teachers who argued they were employees, not contractors, and therefore entitled to vacation pay, overtime and payment for statutory holidays.

The settlement of the class-action lawsuit affects between 1,000 and 2,000 teachers who worked at the Toronto-based private school over the four academic years from September 2015 to September 2019. Although the deal was tentatively reached in November, it still requires court approval, which is expected to take place at a hearing before Justice Benjamin Glustein of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on Tuesday.

Stephen Moreau of law firm Cavalluzzo LLP, which represented the teachers in the class action, said his clients are “very satisfied” with the settlement, which he noted comes without an admission of wrongdoing by Blyth Academy.

“We think it’s an excellent settlement that effectively compensates people for the hours that they worked that they were not compensated for and that compensates them for the vacation and holiday pay that they as well were entitled to,” he said.

Moreau called the case an important victory for teachers working for private schools.

“We’re well aware that other private schools use the contractor model and hopefully the Blyth Academy case serves as a warning to be very careful that you’re properly classifying individuals according to their actual legal entitlements,” he said.

Pat Shaw, president and CEO of Blyth Academy, declined to comment directly but responded in an email statement.

“Blyth Academy is pleased that this matter has been resolved, and will continue working with our excellent teaching staff in order to provide high quality education to our students,” Shaw said.

In its statement of defence filed in 2018, Blyth Academy said terms of employment were clearly laid out in the contracts signed by teachers.

Moreau noted that as a result of the legal action launched by Karen Walmsley, who taught at the academy’s Yorkville campus from 2015 to 2017, the school has revised its hiring and workplace practices.

“As a result of the class action, (Blyth Academy) took a good, hard look at the way they relate to their teachers and what they’ve done is they are hiring many more employees than contractors. They also have a new policy in effect to properly compensate people for overtime work,” Moreau said.

Walmsley, who filed suit in 2018, told the Star in an interview she regarded her job at Blyth as “precarious” because employees were treated as “independent contractors” without access to protections under the Employment Standards Act, including the right to a minimum wage, overtime, vacation and paid statutory holidays.

“I care about justice for every teacher who works there,” Walmsley told the Star. She was unavailable for comment on Monday.

Tahbit Chowdhury, who taught high school French and math at Blyth, described the settlement as “a very positive development.”

“Private schooling is not going to disappear. Private schooling can develop concurrently with public schooling to serve needs that are often being overlooked because of cutbacks in the public sector. There is a correlation between the gutting of education that’s happening in the public sector and the growth of private schools,” Chowdhury said.

“This particular development is a learning opportunity for other academies and private schools that are not as … forward looking as Blyth. This is actually a really good sign,” he added.

A lack of oversight of private high schools in Ontario was an issue raised by the province’s auditor general in 2013 and 2015. Private schools that offer credits towards the Ontario Secondary School Diploma are inspected by the Ministry of Education to ensure the instruction meets ministry standards, but those inspections don’t cover matters relating to staffing.

Teachers who taught at least one course at Blyth Academy may be eligible for compensation and can access documents and get other details at cavalluzzo.com. Individual claims will be paid out on the basis of course load and teaching history.

The settlement also includes a $25,000 fund for teachers who worked prior to the 2015 academic term.

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Moreau praised Blyth for seeking to settle the lawsuit quickly.

“We’re glad Blyth Academy came to the table early and resolved this matter early to spare everyone the time and effort of going much further so that people could see some monies in the shorter, near term,” Moreau said.

Blyth Academy opened its first school in Ontario in 2002 and has 10 locations, including seven in the GTA. It offers courses from Grade 5 and up, including a university preparation program and boasts an average class size of eight students as well as individual tutoring. Blyth has about 1,200 full-time high school students with annual tuition starting at almost $15,000.