The Court of Appeal for Ontario has rebuffed an attempt by Primerica Financial Services Ltd. to derail a proposed class action suit against it.

Cindy Huras is trying to establish a class action suit against Primerica, claiming that its trainees should at least be paid minimum wage when they are going through the firm’s training program.

The proposed class members are all persons who attended a mandatory Primerica training program after May 18, 1993 and prior to Jan. 1, 1998. Huras seeks damages on her own behalf and on behalf of all class members for Primerica’s failure to pay a minimum wage to individuals who participated in a mandatory training program. Each member of the class was required by Primerica to attend the training program in order to become a licensed sales representative for the company.

In the spring of 1996 Huras began her training to become a sales representative for Primerica. Although she spent approximately 30 to 40 hours attending Primerica’s training sessions, she received no compensation for her attendance. She claims that Primerica was required to pay her a minimum wage of $6.85 an hour. Based on the time she spent attending training sessions, this would amount to approximately $200 to $275.

Huras successfully completed the training program and secured a licence to become an insurance agent. On Aug. 26, 1996 she signed a standard form contract with Primerica to become a licensed sales representative of that company.

On May 18, 1999 Huras commenced the proposed class action. Primerica moved to stay the action on the grounds that her employment contract includes an arbitration clause, which should supercede her court claim. The motions judge concluded that the dispute does not fall within the arbitration clause and refused the stay.

The appeals court has upheld that decision, supporting the reasoning that the claim relates to the training period before an employment contract was signed.