Female flight attendants say WestJet policies failed to protect them. A court will rule on a settlement

A B.C. court will decide in the coming days whether to approve a $4.5-million settlement with female WestJet employees who say they suffered as a result of the airline’s lack of procedures to combat harassment.

Former WestJet flight attendant Mandalena Lewis filed the lawsuit nearly a decade ago, alleging the airline failed to support her after she says she was sexually assaulted by a pilot on a layover in Hawaii in 2010.

More women who worked for the airline came forward and the case was certified as a class action by the B.C. Court of Appeal in 2022.

The lawsuit alleges WestJet “breached contracts of employment with female flight attendants by failing to implement and maintain an adequate anti-harassment program, including adequate systems and practices for reporting, investigating, and responding to workplace harassment” between April 4, 2016 and Feb. 28, 2021.

The agreement in principle, reached by the parties during mediation in December, would see WestJet pay $4.5 million, including compensation to 3,458 affected class members, legal fees, administration costs and a $20,000 honorarium to Lewis, the lead plaintiff.