Jessica Habib

The appellants sought to certify a class proceeding against pharmaceutical companies for negligently manufacturing valsartan, alleging contamination with NDMA and NDEA, which are potential carcinogens.

The claim was for damages related to an increased risk of cancer, costs of medical services and monitoring, refunds for drugs, and psychological damages.

The motion judge dismissed the certification, finding no viable cause of action based on concrete injury.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, affirming that claims for genotoxic injury (molecular changes without perceptible effect), psychological harm (not meeting the 'serious and prolonged' or 'ordinary fortitude' thresholds), and pure economic loss (as the product was discarded and not imminently dangerous) were not compensable in tort.

The court also upheld the dismissal of claims for battery, consumer protection breaches, Competition Act breaches, and unjust enrichment, concluding that the pleadings did not disclose viable causes of action or meet commonality criteria for certification.

This is an appeal from a motion judge's refusal to certify a claim for intrusion upon seclusion against Trans Union of Canada, Inc. in a class action.

The appellant alleged that Trans Union, a "Database Defendant," enabled third-party hackers to access private information due to inadequate security.

The Court of Appeal for Ontario dismissed the appeal, holding that the tort of intrusion upon seclusion, as recognized in Jones v. Tsige, does not extend to "Database Defendants" for the actions of independent third-party hackers, as there is no basis for vicarious liability in such circumstances.

The court also confirmed its jurisdiction to hear the appeal, treating the refusal to certify as a final order effectively dismissing the claim.

The plaintiffs sought to certify a class action against the defendant pharmaceutical companies for manufacturing and distributing valsartan contaminated with NDMA and NDEA, which are probable human carcinogens.

The plaintiffs claimed damages for psychological harm and pure economic losses (medical bills, medical monitoring, refunds, and wasted pills) arising from the increased risk of being diagnosed with cancer, but explicitly did not claim damages for actually developing cancer.

The court dismissed the certification motion, finding that the law does not recognize a cause of action for the mere creation of risk or for pure economic loss from shoddy but not imminently dangerous goods, and therefore the claims failed to satisfy the cause of action, common issues, and preferable procedure criteria.

The plaintiff brought a motion to certify a class action against TransUnion arising from a data breach where hackers accessed the credit profiles of 37,444 individuals.

The plaintiff alleged intrusion upon seclusion, negligence, and breach of provincial privacy statutes.

The court certified the negligence and certain provincial privacy statute claims, finding they disclosed a cause of action and met the certification criteria.

However, the court refused to certify the intrusion upon seclusion claim, as binding authority established it does not apply to database defendants for hacker attacks, and struck claims under the privacy statutes of Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, and British Columbia for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.