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Newspaper article

Company sues Poles, denies claims

This document is a key resource

Date

2007-01-23

Authors

Sarah O'Donnell

Newspaper title

Edmonton Journal

Page numbers

B3

Place published

Edmonton

Full text

EDMONTON - A group of Polish welders that alleged an energy services company brought them to work in Canada under false pretences "concocted a story and a conspiracy" in order to win sympathy and stay in Canada, says a statement of defence filed by the company.

And in a counterclaim, filed in Edmonton's Court of Queen's Bench, Kihew Energy Services and its two corporate directors are suing the 30 men, along with Lakeland College, the college's former Strathcona County campus business unit general manager and an English-as-a-second-language instructor for more than $10 million.

The statement of defence and counterclaim are in response to a $5.5-million civil lawsuit filed by the Polish nationals against Kihew, Lakeland College and three individuals in December.

In that lawsuit, the welders alleged that they believed they were being hired by Kihew to work in Alberta as full-time welders, not full-time students as their visas said.

They also claimed that once here, they received inadequate pay for their work, earning $10 to $12 from Kihew while four companies contracted with Kihew paid up to $28 an hour for their services.

The statement of defence and counterclaim filed on behalf of Kihew and

its directors John Lipinski and Calvin Steinhauer is the first time that the company has publicly stated its side of the story since questions were first raised about how the men came to enter Canada.

The RCMP's immigration and passport section has been investigating. And in November, Alberta's auditor general raised questions about Lakeland College's involvement in the program, saying that the college collected more than $200,000 in tuition from Kihew to educate students who attended virtually no classes.

Kihew's statement of defence alleges that the Polish men were "expressly advised" that they would have to attend a 52-week training and upgrading program at Lakeland College where they would be paid a "scholarship" or "stipend" of $10 per workshop hour.

No promises were made about food, lodging, transportation or payment to any particular industry standard.

It also alleges that each man signed an application for a student visa or study permit at Lakeland College and signed contracts in their native language outlining the terms of the agreement.

The deal, according to Kihew's court filing, was that once each man passed the Alberta apprenticeship equivalency exam with interprovincial Red Seal, he would be bound to work for Kihew for up to four years.

"Students were being recruited to work anywhere in the world where Kihew Energy may have needed them and the students understood that they would need to return to Poland to work for North American controlled offshore projects and projects of Kihew Energy offshore," the counterclaim says.

Instead, Kihew officials claim that the men chose to "breach their contracts with Kihew Energy and work directly for the practicum providers, solely for the purpose of displacing Kihew Energy and refused to attend the required classes or take any exams, despite repeated demands for them to do so."

Because of the alleged breaches, and investigations by the Auditor General of Alberta and the RCMP, the counterclaim says that, "Kihew Energy has been exposed to public ridicule, contempt, scorn, hatred and reprisal, such that it is no longer seen as a reputable supplier of industrial workers in the world market and effectively destroying the business of Kihew Energy."

The countersuit also alleges Lakeland College breached its contracts by failing to provide in-class training, supervise the students or ensure that their hours of work did not "exceed what was reasonably necessary."

None of the allegations included in the statement of claim, statement of defence or the counterclaim have been proven. Lakeland College has not yet filed a statement of defence.

Kihew Energy and its officials are asking for damages in the sum of $10 million, a judgment for debt in the sum of $1 million against the 30 Polish nationals, a judgment for debt in the sum of $250,000 against Lakeland College, punitive damages in the sum of $250,000 and any relief deemed appropriate by a judge.

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Keywords

Claim, energy, counterclaim

Content types

Documented cases of abuse

Geographical focuses

Alberta

Languages

English