Miscalculation of Disability Pensions Class Action
CASE NAME
Manuge v His Majesty the King
COURT
Federal Court, Action No.: T-119-19
DATE FILED
Consolidated Statement of Claim, filed 30 October 2019
CLASS ACTION SETTLED
The Federal Court decision approving the settlement of this class proceeding became effective on March 19, 2024.
Later this year, Class Members who currently receive disability pensions directly from Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) will automatically receive settlement payments from VAC by direct deposit or cheque.
Estates, family members of deceased Class Members and other Class Members who do not currently receive disability pensions directly from VAC will be required to submit a Claim by March 19, 2025. Claims can be submitted at the administrator’s website:
A dedicated call centre has been established by the administrator to address general inquiries and help individuals complete the online claims form. Please call 1 (833) 839-0648. You may also visit the administrator’s FAQ page.
The approval hearing was held on December 18, 2023. A copy of the agreement can be found here: Final Settlement Agreement, November 8, 2023.
READ THE PRESS RELEASES
ABOUT THE ACTION
Each year, as required by the Pension Act, Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) calculates annual increases in monthly disability benefits to account for inflation. Through this certified class proceeding, Class Counsel has identified several errors in VAC’s calculations. These alleged errors date back to 2002.
Class Counsel believes that hundreds of thousands of veterans and their surviving family members have been, and continue to be, underpaid each month. Class Counsel brought these errors to the Government of Canada’s attention in October 2019. So far, Canada has not corrected the alleged errors for ongoing payments.
Class Counsel is calling on VAC to promptly resolve the miscalculation and compensate disabled veterans and their surviving family members for the past two decades of what Class Counsel believe are underpayments of benefits.
Class Counsel continue to work with the Canadian Department of Justice to facilitate documentary discovery, which will be conducted electronically. A judicial case conference is expected in the coming weeks to formalize a discovery timetable and discuss other procedural issues. Concurrent with discovery, Class Counsel are committed to settlement discussions, which we are hopeful will take place with the Department of Justice after Parliament resumes, and once Ministers are in receipt of their mandates.
Quick Facts
- The Pension Act provides various disability benefits to recognize and fulfill the “obligation of the people and Government of Canada to provide compensation to those members of the forces who have been disabled or have died as a result of military service, and to their dependents.”
- The Pension Act provides for an annual adjustment to disability benefits to account for the impact of inflation.
- The class action was commenced in January 2019 and amended in October 2019 to seek compensation for new VAC calculation errors identified by Class Counsel.
- The class action was certified by the Federal Court in December 2020.
- Class Counsel estimate that there are approximately 300,000 class members.
AFFECTED BENEFITS
- Pension Act – Pension for disability
- Pension Act – Pension for death
- Pension Act – Attendance allowance
- Pension Act – Allowance for wear and tear of clothing or for specially made apparel
- Pension Act – Exceptional incapacity allowance
- Civilian War-related Benefits Act – War pensions and allowances for salt water fishers, overseas headquarters staff, air raid precautions works, and injury for remedial treatment of various persons and voluntary aid detachment (World War II)
- Flying Accidents Compensation Regulations – flying accidents compensation
- RCMP disability benefits awarded in accordance with the Pension Act
- Veterans Well-being Act – Clothing allowance
Legal Team
Malcolm N. Ruby
Adam Bazak
Kirk M. Baert
Adam Tanel
Daniel Wallace
Michel W. Drapeau
Joshua M. Juneau
Bill Dick, K.C.
Angela Bespflug
Miscalculation of Disability Pensions Class Action Settlement
If you are a member or former member of the Canadian Armed Forces or the Royal Canadian Mounted Police – or a spouse, common law partner, or dependent of a veteran – and you received, at any time between 2002 and the present, certain disability benefits from Veterans Affairs Canada, you may be a member of the class. Eligible estates of persons who received these disability benefits may also be class members.
You were not required to opt-in to the action in order to be a class member. Please visit the Settlement website for claim forms and important information about the settlement process.