D. Young

Following the dismissal of the plaintiffs' appeal from the dismissal of their certification motions in two proposed class actions, the parties consensually resolved the issue of costs.

The Divisional Court ordered costs payable by the plaintiffs/appellants to the various defendants/respondents in the total amount of $92,500, inclusive of fees, disbursements, and HST.

The plaintiffs appealed the dismissal of their certification motions in two proposed class actions arising from a privacy breach at two hospitals.

Rogue hospital employees accessed the contact information of maternity patients and sold it to RESP salespeople.

The Divisional Court upheld the motions judge's finding that the accessed information (names, addresses, phone numbers, and basic hospital visit details) was personal but not highly private, and that the intrusion would not be regarded by a reasonable person as highly offensive causing distress, humiliation, or anguish.

Although the motions judge erred in his class definition, the appeal was dismissed because the elements of the tort of intrusion upon seclusion were not met.

The applicant, charged with sexual assault, brought a pre-trial motion for directions under s. 278.1 of the Criminal Code to determine whether text messages and images sent by the complainant to the applicant constituted 'records'.

The preliminary issue was whether the complainant had standing on this motion.

The court held that denying the complainant a voice at the records determination stage would be inconsistent with the legislative purpose of balancing the accused's rights with the complainant's privacy interests.

The court exercised its discretion to grant the complainant standing on the motion for directions.