TORONTO – Some former Hudson’s Bay employees have filed a class-action lawsuit seeking a share of the defunct retailer’s pension surplus.
The court filing is on behalf of workers were enrolled in a pension plan offered by Simpsons, a rival department store HBC bought in the 1970s.
The takeover made HBC the administrator of the Simpsons pension plan, which had a surplus at the time. The court filing does not say how big the surplus was.
However, workers enrolled in the Simpsons plan say they are entitled to that surplus now because a judge ruled years ago in a previous case that if the plan was ever wound down, they would receive the funds.
The class action was filed in June but flew under the radar until a judge in Hudson’s Bay’s creditor protection case mentioned it at a hearing earlier this week.
Lawyers involved in the case have expressed doubt that the company will be able to repay the $1.1 billion it owes creditors.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2025.
