DEVELOPING TRENDS IN EMPLOYMENT CLASS ACTIONS
By Elian Shoukry, 3L Introduction Employment class actions in Canada have seen remarkable developments and challenges in recent years. Canadian courts have seen an increasing number of employment class actions, as such proceedings serve as a powerful vehicle for facilitating employee access to justice, enhancing judicial economy, and encouraging good employer behaviour. Class actions in…
Exploring the potential of Amicus Curiae in Class Actions
By Arshdeep Aulakh, 2l For survivors of sexual abuse, there are many different routes for seeking justice such as criminal proceedings or suing for financial compensation. Class actions provide another avenue for survivors of institutional or systemic abuse which, for class members who are not required to testify throughout the proceedings, may provide for a…
Honorarium Payments to Representative Plaintiffs: Doucet v The Royal Winnipeg Ballet
Guest Blog by Suzanne Chiodo, Assistant Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School Yesterday morning, the Ontario Divisional Court released its decision in Doucet v The Royal Winnipeg Ballet,[1] an appeal involving additional payments to representative plaintiffs (‘honoraria’) for their service to the class. This issue has been subject to conflicting treatment at the Superior Court level[2]…
Mass Torts are Trending: What does this Mean for Access to Justice?
By David Balzer At the end of 2022, Robin Linley of Blake, Cassels & Graydon observed a new legal trend in Ontario: a “surge” of mass-tort claims and a decrease in new class actions, at least for product-liability claims. A mass tort is not quite a class action. Whereas a class action is a single…
What is Effective Notice? Examining Class Actions Notice and the Day Schools Settlement
By Joudy Sarraj The Six Nations Grand River Council recently filed a motion asking the Federal Court to extend the claims deadline in the Federal Indian Day Schools and Federal Day Schools (“IDS”) settlement to December 31, 2025. The settlement agreement was reached in a class action concerning the systemic abuse suffered by generations of…
Intervening for Extended Opt-Out Rights: Johnson v. Ontario
By Katie Pfaff, MSW, JD. On March 30, 2022, the Class Action Clinic intervened at the Ontario Court of Appeal in the case of Johnson v Ontario, 2022 ONCA 725. The Clinic advocated for a new test to extend a class member’s time to opt-out after the designated deadline. These submissions were largely accepted by…
Are Honorariums a Tool to Advance Justice or Just an Entrepreneurial Opportunity?
By Catherine Yue On March 3rd, 2022, when Justice Akbarali approved an honorarium in Redublo v CarePartners, she added yet another chapter to the long-standing debate of whether honorariums are an appropriate element of the class action landscape in Ontario. What are honorariums and what is their significance? Every class action has at least one…
Whose Interest is it Anyway?: Intervening in the Waldron case
By Elizabeth Yan, 2L A class action settlement is approved by the court when it is determined to be fair, reasonable, and in the best interests of the entire class. Key considerations for settlement approvals include looking at whether an agreement sufficiently compensates for the relinquishment of each individual class member’s litigation rights and whether…
“Forever Chemicals” and the Potential for Toxic Torts Class Actions in Canada
By: Jacklyn Barrios In 1948, manufacturer 3M invented a chemical known as Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), used to prevent substances from clumping during production. Three years later, United States chemical company, DuPont, began purchasing PFOA from 3M to use in the manufacturing of Teflon, the non-stick coating on their cookware. PFOA was used in Teflon until…
Common Obstacles Class Members Face In Settlement Claims Processes
By: Khawla Khalifa To many players who are involved in legal actions, the word ‘settlement’ echoes sentiments of relief and the end of an ordeal. However, to class members of settled class actions, reaching a settlement could mean the beginning of yet another uphill battle. Although judges consider whether the settlement is in the best…
Releases Under Scrutiny: Protecting the Best Interests of the Class
By: Iman Naqvi A broad legal release threatens the principle of access to justice in class proceedings. A release prevents the parties in a lawsuit from pursuing further legal action against the other over the same issue – the plaintiff is compensated by the defendant and in exchange, the plaintiff agrees to release the defendant…
“Compromise and the Compromised: Accessibility in Class Action Settlement Agreements”
By: Ashley Ash & Olivia Pomajba Access to justice is a pillar of class action litigation. Barriers to meaningful justice can remain, however, even within the class action itself, especially in the settlement claims process. Class action litigation often ends with a settlement agreement, rather than a trial. It is common for class counsel and…
First Dismissal of Class Action for Delay Following Amendment to Ontario’s Class Proceedings Act
By: Bianca Demian The Ontario Class Proceedings Act (“CPA”) was amended on October 1, 2020 to address issues related to procedural delay in an effort to advance stagnant claims. As described in a previous blog, the Law Commission of Ontario had recommended additional rules to mitigate the harm of delay on class members who may…
2021: Year in Review
By: Olivia Pomajba The Class Action Clinic has selected the top five most notable class action decisions of 2021. These decisions set important precedents in class action practice, as the Court addressed the power dynamic between plaintiffs, defendants, and class action procedure itself. Class Actions & the Gig Economy: Heller v. Uber Technologies, 2021 ONSC…
Efficiency Over Fairness: Interpreting the Day School Settlement
By: Katie Pfaff and Jasminka Kalajdzic In April 2020, former Clinic student caseworker Karly Lyons wrote a blog about a pivotal case for class action settlements – JW v Canada (AG), an appeal arising from the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement (IRSSA). In a three-way split decision, the Supreme Court of Canada established limits on…
Cy-Près Awards to the Class Action Clinic
By Oscar Ramirez On June 17, 2021, Justice Belobaba released his decision approving the proposed settlement in MacDonald et al. v BMO Trust Company et al. In the decision, Justice Belobaba went over the proposed settlement, which included a term that the first $250,000 in cy-près distributions would be paid to the Class Action Clinic.…
The Settlement Claims Process: What Type of Evidence Do I Need?
By: Micheline Chevrier It can be many years before a class action lawsuit is resolved. If a settlement is reached and approved by the Court, the claims process is the final step to concluding the matter. It, too, can also take several months or a few years to complete. The kind and extent of evidence…
Mark Your Calendar! How is a Claims Application Deadline Determined?
Written By: Katie Pfaff. Special thanks to Jonathan Foreman of Foreman & Company for lending his insights in the making of this blog. You have made it. As a class member, you have followed a class action proceeding from its certification all the way to settlement approval, and now, thankfully, you are eligible for compensation…
Reflections on Trauma Informed Lawyering in a Class Action Settlement Hearing
By: Michael Burns The fundamental principle of trauma informed lawyering is to be aware of the impact trauma can have upon a person. Trauma affects everyone differently and someone who has experienced trauma can react to it in a way that is unique to themselves. The legal system is often set up in a way…
Pearce v Pillars: What’s the deal with ‘class action waiver’ clauses in contracts of adhesion?
By: Emma Walsh Introduction Class actions can, and often do, serve as a procedural vehicle to aid comparably weaker parties in holding larger organizations accountable. Yet, at the outset of their relationship, larger organizations may require individuals to contractually waive their rights to participate in a class action. The British Columbia Court of Appeal recently…
What am I Getting Myself Into? The Role and Responsibilities of the Representative Plaintiff(s)
By: Micheline Chevrier Who is a “representative plaintiff”? In a class action, the representative plaintiff is the individual who commences an action on behalf of a class of similarly situated individuals. Theoretically, the class may be as small as two individuals who would be represented by the representative plaintiff, but in reality, the class is…
Francis v Ontario: When is the Government liable for its misconduct?
By: Lyann Ordenes The Ontario Court of Appeal’s (ONCA) recent holding in Francis v Ontario confirms that baseline damages under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms can be sought in class actions as a measure of compensation, vindication and deterrence. In this case, Charter damages were awarded due to the Ontario Government’s unconstitutional system…
Is a Cy Près Award to Legal Aid Appropriate?
By Lauren Tzogas For many years now, judges have approved the payment of settlement money to cy près recipients when it is impractical or uneconomical to pay the settlement funds directly to class members. These recipients are usually charitable or non-profit organizations, university research initiatives or the Class Proceedings Fund (“CPF”). Cy près distributions can…
Objection, Your Honour! Can class members dispute settlement orders in class actions?
By Daniel MacDonald A feature unique to class actions is that class members are not always happy with settlements. Occasionally, class members object to settlements but judges approve them anyway. Is there recourse for class members when this situation arises? Last month, the Alberta Court of Appeal ruled that unhappy class members have no right…
Should I Stay or Should I Go: Opting Out of a Class Action
By Braden Adsett Given the exceptional ability of the class action vehicle to aggregate claims and deliver widespread relief, it is subject to unique procedural requirements. One of these procedures is called certification. This is where the court determines if it is appropriate for the class action to proceed based on the five factors articulated…
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