Jeffery Childs

This appeal concerned the dismissal of a proposed class action against Capital One and Amazon Web following a data breach.

The motion judge had struck the appellants' pleadings without leave to amend and dismissed their certification motion, finding the case 'doomed to fail'.

The Court of Appeal upheld the motion judge's decision, affirming that the pleadings failed to disclose viable causes of action for data misuse (intrusion upon seclusion, misappropriation of personality, conversion, breach of confidence/trust/fiduciary duty) and data breach (negligence, statutory claims).

The Court also upheld the decision to deny leave to amend the pleadings, citing repeated opportunities and the defective nature of the claims.

The appellants' motion for an extension of time to appeal costs was also dismissed.

The court issued a costs decision in an exceptional case following a carriage motion in a class action.

The Slapinski Action Consortium, though unsuccessful in the carriage motion, sought costs against the Del Giudice Action Consortium's counsel for non-compliance with a case management direction regarding simultaneous exchange of motion materials.

The court found that the Del Giudice Action Consortium's failure to comply with the simultaneous exchange rule prejudiced the court's ability to fairly decide the carriage contest, constituting a default under Rule 57.07.

Despite the Del Giudice Action Consortium's success on the carriage motion, the court awarded partial indemnity costs of $42,907 to the Slapinski Action Consortium, to be paid personally by the Del Giudice Action Consortium's counsel.