Brewers Retail Pension Plan

A Proposed Settlement in the Brewers Retail Inc. Class Proceeding

The settlement reached in the Brewers Retail Inc. (“BRI”) Salaried Pension Plan Class Proceeding (“the Class Proceeding”) has now been approved by the Court.

The Class Proceeding addresses a dispute arising from the validity of, interpretation of, and administration of amendments to the BRI Pension Plan about the indexing of Plan pensions, starting in 1974, and recent proposed amendments by BRI to the indexing provisions.

You may have been affected by those issues, and you therefore may be eligible to benefit from the settlement of the Class Proceeding (“Class Members”) if:

• • You were employed by BRI at any time between January 1, 1974 and December 31, 2009, and you were entitled to receive benefits from the BRI Pension Plan, and you did not receive an indexed pension; or
  • You are the beneficiary of such an employee, if deceased.

Under the Settlement, Class Members will receive a fixed annual adjustment of 0.9% per year on pension benefits paid in or after 2016 for pre-2010 service. Different groups of Class Members will be affected differently, as set out in the Settlement Agreement.

For the vast majority of Class Members, no action is required to obtain the settlement benefits as they have already been applied or will be applied automatically.

Only Group 2 Class Members will need to submit a claim to obtain settlement benefits.   Group 2 Class Members are “All persons not in any other Group who at any time prior to 2013 participated in the Plan including persons who “cashed out” their pension when leaving the Company or who otherwise did not have any pension entitlement remaining in the Plan, or beneficiaries, including those for whom the Company has no record of entitlement.”  Those Group 2 Class Members will need to submit a Group 2 Class Member Claim Form and supporting documents by April 11, 2025.

Further information is available at the Long Form Notice of Approval on this website.

Documents Included on this Web-Site

• • The Settlement Agreement
  • The Settlement Approval Order
  • The Short Form Notice of Approval
  • The Long Form Notice of Approval
  • Group 2 Class Member Claim Form

For any questions, contact Class Counsel by email at info@kaplanlaw.ca or by telephone at (416) 565-4656.