Shopify’s Severance Mistake Doesn’t Make Sense: Employment Lawyer on CTV

Interview Summary

In the wake of its latest round of layoffs, Shopify now faces a class action lawsuit launched on behalf of former employees. The suit alleges Shopify dramatically reduced severance packages for its former staff after many had already signed releases. Can an employer renege on a severance offer and is it a common occurrence?

Lluc Cerda, a Calgary employment lawyer and Senior Associate at Samfiru Tumarkin LL joins CTV News Ottawa to answer this question and more on the ongoing suit.

Interview Notes

“I’ve never seen something like this myself,” said Cerda, “There was a signed deal and then they came back and said this is not good. That is not how it works.”

SEVERANCE FOR SHOPIFY EMPLOYEES
• Shopify’s legal obligations to severance

Cerda goes on to explain that Shopify’s vague argument, that this was a simple mistake, seems improbable. “How do you make a mistake for over 2,300 people? This doesn’t make a lot of sense.”