In Broutzas v. Rouge Valley Health System, the Ontario Divisional Court dismissed an appeal from a motion decision that had denied certification in two class proceedings, which were focused on the tort of intrusion upon seclusion. Background The appellants gave birth at certain hospitals between 2009 and 2014 and their hospital records were improperly accessed…
Insights
Hicks Morley publishes a number of materials, both electronic and print, on issue-specific and sector-specific topics of interest to our clients. Our insights section has links to all of our various publications, updates and blogs, both current and historical, to keep you informed of developments in the law that impact human resources.
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FTR Now
Employers and human resource professionals will undoubtedly remember 2022 as another year shaped by the pandemic.
But…there were also legal developments in 2022 that were not related to COVID-19. In this FTR Now, we look at some of the past year’s notable “non-pandemic” cases and legislative developments.
Common Ground? Class Action Updates
In Robertson v. Ontario, Justice Belobaba of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice recently certified a class proceeding against the Ontario Minister of Long-Term Care (MLTC). The case relates to the deaths or serious illness due to COVID-19 of thousands of residents in provincially regulated long-term care (LTC) homes. Although the class proceeding was certified,…
Common Ground? Class Action Updates
In Richard v. The Attorney General of Canada, the Ontario Superior Court recently confirmed that a defendant in an Ontario class proceeding is required to file a Statement of Defence pre-certification and in accordance with the Rules of Civil Procedure, absent special circumstances justifying a deferral. The proposed class proceeding in this case centered on…
Common Ground? Class Action Updates
This post relates to an important procedural aspect of the class proceedings regime. In Somani v. International Financial Group Ltd., the Ontario Superior Court of Justice granted the plaintiffs’ motion to discontinue a proposed class action related to allegedly unpaid overtime, vacation, public holiday and premium pay. After commencing the claim, issues arose with the…
Common Ground? Class Action Updates
In a trio of cases, the Ontario Court of Appeal recently held that a claim for the tort of intrusion upon seclusion does not apply to companies who store personal information for commercial use (the “Database Defendants”) when those databases are hacked by third parties. Background In June 2022, the Court of Appeal heard three…
Case In Point
On November 29, 2022, the British Columbia Court of Appeal released Yates v. Langley Motor Sport Centre Ltd., in which the Court of Appeal ruled that payments received by an employee under the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) should not be deducted from wrongful dismissal damages. The Court of Appeal held that broader policy considerations,…
Common Ground? Class Action Updates
The Ontario Court of Appeal has provided new guidance to litigants seeking to opt out of class proceedings. In the usual course, a class member has until the deadline set by the court at the time the court certifies a class proceeding to opt out of a class action (i.e. to no longer be considered…
Common Ground? Class Action Updates
In this latest edition of Common Ground? Class Action Updates, we discuss two recent decisions of interest to employers. The first is a certification order relating to a systemic claim of negligence within a workplace. The second considers a plausible methodology to measure compensable loss. Federal Court Certifies Class Action Brought by Current and Former…
Common Ground? Class Action Updates
In Montaque v. Handa Travel Student Trip Ltd., the Ontario Superior Court recently approved a settlement in what the Court has stated is Canada’s first “volunteer misclassification” class action. Factual Background In 2020, a class action was certified against four related companies that operated a travel business selling vacation tours to students. The certified class…