In Phillip v Deloitte Management Services LLP et al, the Ontario Superior Court recently approved a $2.4 million dollar settlement in a class action alleging employee misclassification and breaches of the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA). The class action commenced nearly 8 years ago and involved approximately 500 individuals who provided document review and e-discovery…
Practice Area: Litigation - Class Actions
BC Court Denies Application to Stay a Class Action Appeal in Order to Avoid “Litigation in Slices”
In Facebook, Inc. v. Douez, the Supreme Court of British Columbia denied an application by the representative plaintiff (Ms. Douez) to stay an appeal by Facebook of a class action order with respect to liability. The Court noted that while there is a general aversion to “litigation in slices,” it may be appropriate to permit…
Appellate Court Denies Certification of Class Actions Claiming Intrusion Upon Seclusion
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…
Beyond COVID-19: 2022 Year in Review – Cases and Legislation of Note
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.
Class Action Certified Against the MLTC Respecting COVID-19 Deaths/Illnesses in Long-Term Care Homes
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,…
Ontario Superior Court Confirms Presumptive Requirement for Statement of Defence Prior to Certification Motion
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…
Plaintiffs’ Motion to Discontinue Proposed Overtime Class Action Granted
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…
Appellate Court Finds Database Defendants not Liable for Tort of Intrusion upon Seclusion where Personal Information “Hacked” by Third Parties
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…
Two Recent Class Action Decisions of Note for Employers
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…
Ontario Court Approves Settlement in First Volunteer Misclassification Class Action
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…