The 19 parking attendants filed a $ 9.7 million claim, claiming they were fired from their jobs in 2015 after being accused of more than $ 1 million in missing revenue. Their lawyer, Glenda Lee Pidde, made her inaugural statement Tuesday morning, saying “this is the worst case abuse of power I have ever seen.” “I just do not understand how an employer treats them the way they were treated.” Employees are seeking aggravating and criminal compensation. Their allegations have not yet been proven in court. The hearing will continue on Wednesday with the deposit of the former Northlands funds. The Northlands attorney will make his introductory statement later in the scheduled 14-day hearing. In October 2015, Northlands fired all 38 parking attendants after an internal investigation found that some employees were not following the proper transaction process. The company said an audit found that money fell asleep between 12 and 19 percent of all transactions. “The loss was so significant that we had to react quickly. And, we did, “former Northlands president and CEO Tim Reid told CTV News in an interview on October 9, 2015. Reid, who is named in the lawsuit along with Northlands, resigned in January 2018 after more than three years in office. A counter-examination is expected during the hearing. The proceedings began on Monday, but were limited to dealing with administrative issues. In 2019, the Group of 19 won a decision in the Alberta Court of Appeals that allowed them to sue for both illegal dismissal and defamation, after Northlands tried to remove the last allegation. Northlands shut down in the summer of 2021 with Explore Edmonton taking over K-Days and Farmfair International. The non-profit organization started in 1879 as a livestock and farm exhibition. It would later host purebred horse racing as well as professional hockey at the Colosseum, with the Edmonton Oilers of the World Hockey Association and the National Hockey League calling the rink home between 1974 and 2016. The Colosseum remains standing, but has been removed from its seats since it closed on January 1, 2018. The racetrack in Northlands Park also closed later that year.
