Cineflix Class Action
A class action lawsuit was recently settled between Cineflix and factual TV workers. The settlement provides compensation to most Cineflix workers who worked at Cineflix from October 2016 until September 2021. The compensation is for overtime, vacation pay and public holiday pay that was not previously paid by Cineflix.
Cineflix is now beginning to distribute payments to eligible Payment Class Members. If you are eligible for a payment under the terms of the Settlement Agreement and submitted the required paperwork in accordance with the Settlement Agreement deadlines, you will receive a cheque or direct deposit in the near future. A cheque will be issued if you did not include or supplied insufficient direct deposit information on your Individualized Claims Form. Cheques are being mailed out on August 24, 2022, and payments by direct deposit will be made on August 25, 2022. If you do not receive your cheque or direct deposit by August 31, 2022, please contact Cineflix at cineflixnotices@cineflix.com.
Determination of Individual Settlement Payments
Under the terms of the Settlement Agreement, the Net Proceeds will be divided up amongst and paid out (less required deductions) to Payment Class Members. Each individual Payment Class Member’s entitlement will be determined according to the following formula:
Points for Particular Payment Class Member
______________________________________ X Net Proceed
Sum of points for all Payment Class Members
The “Points for particular Payment Class Member” is the number of points that each Payment Class Member has been allocated pursuant to the Settlement Agreement. The number of points each Payment Class Members was allocated depends on the number of days they worked for Cineflix during the class period, the average daily amounts they earned form Cineflix during the class period, and whether they worked on a first season program during the class period. All Payment Class Members have been advised as to the number of points they have been allocated, as listed in the Individualized Claims Form, and the time for challenging that allocation has now expired.
The “Sum of points for all Payment Class Members” is the total number of points among every person who is receiving a payment under this settlement. This amount totals 1,572,601 points.
The “Net Proceeds” total $1,627,072.38. This is the total amount (less required deductions) available for distribution to Payment Class Members. This amount consists of Cineflix’s payment of $2.5 million as part of the Settlement, plus accumulated interest, less legal fees paid to class counsel as approved by the Court.
Based on this formula, the following chart sets out the amounts that each Payment Class Member will receive (before required deductions), depending on which payment category they fall into. The chart can be viewed at the following link:
Chart of Settlement Distribution for Payment Class Members
If you are over the age of 70 at the date of payment and deductions are being applied at source, your Net payment will be higher than what is indicated in the chart above due to Canada Pension Plan (CPP) deductions not being applicable.
Some Payment Class Members will have required deductions deducted from their individual distribution:
- Payment Class Members who worked for Cineflix as an employee at any point during the Class Period, Cineflix will be deducting employer contributions and required withholdings and remitting them.If individuals worked for Cineflix during the Class Period as both an employee at one point and as a contractor or sole proprietor at another point, they fall into this category, and deductions will be made from their individual distribution.
- If Payment Class Members only worked for Cineflix as a contractor or sole proprietor during the Class Period, there will be no deduction or withholding from amounts made to them.In that case, the amount they receive is inclusive of any applicable taxes, including GST and/or HST.It is those individuals’ responsibility to remit and file taxes as may be required.
All Payment Class Members will be receiving appropriate tax forms in due course, consistent with Cineflix’s usual practice, in February 2023, via email or regular mail as per the addresses provided on your Individualized Claims form.
FURTHER DETAILS AND QUESTIONS
You can read more detail about the settlement that was reached by reading the Settlement Agreement found HERE. Under the settlement agreement, there was an option to sign a Collective Agreement and pay out $1 million to class members, or pay out $2.5 million to class members with no Collective Agreement. Cineflix has elected to pay out $2.5 million to class members.
If you are not able to get answers to your questions from the notice or the Settlement Agreement, you are welcome to contact us.
For more information, please contact: cineflixclassaction@cavalluzzo.com
Or, call us toll free at: 1-844-253-7730.