OHL Notebook: Impending lawsuits making waves

According to a report in the Toronto Star on Monday, the Canadian Hockey League is facing a class action lawsuit.

A statement of claim was reportedly filed in a Toronto court on Friday that seeks $180 million in outstanding wages, vacation, holiday and overtime pay and employer payroll contributions.

According to the claim, the CHL and its member teams, “conspired and agreed together…to act in concert to demand or require that all players sign a contract which the defendants knew was unlawful.”

“Such conduct was high-handed outrageous, reckless, wanton, deliberate, callous, disgraceful, wilful and in complete disregard for the rights of the (players).”

Toronto-based lawyer Ted Charney is leading the lawsuit.

“This class action will recover the wages that these young players are rightfully entitled to by law,” Charney said in a prepared statement. “Through this class action, the plaintiff seeks to hold the CHL, the leagues it operates, and the teams accountable.”

Former OHL player Sam Berg is the representative plaintiff in the case.

Berg signed with the Niagara IceDogs in 2013 but was sent down to Jr. B hockey later that season before a shoulder injury ended his playing career and he is now enrolled at McMaster University.

“I believe that we’ve got a really big complaint with the way players are treated across the league,” Berg said in an interview with the Toronto Star. “I just really want to help. I know when I was in this situation I would have appreciated someone being there for me.”

On Monday, the commissioners of the CHL’s three member leagues – David Branch (CHL President, OHL Commissioner), Gilles Courteau (Quebec League Commissioner) and Ron Robison (Western League Commissioner) – released a statement regarding the suit.

“In terms of the class action that was filed today in Toronto late last week, the CHL, our member leagues and teams will vigorously defend ourselves against this action which will not only have a negative effect on hockey in Canada but through all sports in which amateur student athletes are involved,” the statement read. “In addition, despite all mentions to the contrary, recent communications and social media posts by Glenn Gumbley of the CHLPA lead us to believe that the Gumbleys are still actively involved on the fringes of junior hockey in Canada and with this action.  The CHL will once again issue warnings to our players and their parents cautioning them about the Gumbleys.”

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As working conditions in the Canadian Hockey League have been brought up in the form of the lawsuit, another lawsuit has also come out.

Former OHL goaltender John Chartrand, who played with the Barrie Colts, Belleville Bulls and Niagara IceDogs, is suing the Colts for $12 million, according to TSN’s Rick Westhead.

Court documents allege that he was cleared to play by the Colts and team medical officials days after a car accident that forced him to be hospitalized.

A statement of claim was filed on Dec. 12, 2012 in Ontario Superior Court. The Colts and team Doctor Stuart Murdoch have filed statements of defence denying the charges.