Katherine Kay

The plaintiffs brought a motion to certify a class action against major producers and retailers of packaged bread, as well as their parent companies, alleging a 16-year price-fixing conspiracy.

The court certified the action against the producer and retailer defendants on behalf of direct and indirect purchasers of packaged bread.

However, the court refused to certify the claims against the parent companies, finding no material facts pleaded to support their involvement.

The court also refused to certify claims on behalf of 'umbrella purchasers' (those who bought fresh bread or packaged bread from non-defendants), finding no plausible methodology to prove that the price-fixing of packaged bread caused an actionable increase in the prices of those non-competing or diverse products.

The plaintiffs sought judicial approval of settlement agreements totaling $7.9 million with seven defendant groups in multiple class actions alleging price-fixing in the global automotive parts industry.

The court also considered the approval of a distribution protocol, discontinuances and dismissals against certain defendants, representative plaintiff honoraria, and class counsel's 25% contingency fees.

The court found the settlements, distribution protocol, and fees to be fair, reasonable, and in the best interests of the class, and granted all requested approvals.

Following the dismissal of the plaintiff's motions for leave to assert a statutory cause of action under the Securities Act and for certification of a class proceeding, the successful defendants sought costs of $363,184 on a partial indemnity basis.

The plaintiff argued for a reduced award of $250,000, citing the novelty and public interest of the case under s. 31(1) of the Class Proceedings Act, 1992.

The court agreed that the case raised a novel point of law and involved a matter of public interest, justifying a reduction in the costs award.

Costs were fixed at $285,000 all-inclusive.

The moving defendants sought a temporary stay of the plaintiff's certification motion pending the determination of a certification motion in a related price-fixing class action involving different electronic components.

The defendants argued that a stay would promote efficiency as the expert evidence and methodology were substantially similar in both actions.

The court dismissed the motion, finding that the actions involved different products, time periods, and parties, and that an indefinite delay would be unfair to the plaintiff class and contrary to the goals of judicial economy and access to justice.

The plaintiff in a proposed price-fixing class action regarding linear resistors brought motions to discontinue the action against six defendants and to certify the action for settlement purposes against the Kamaya defendants.

The court approved the discontinuance, finding no prejudice to the class as tolling agreements were in place and there was no evidence of the discontinued defendants' involvement in the conspiracy.

The court also certified the action for settlement purposes, approving an expanded class definition that included British Columbia purchasers to facilitate a comprehensive settlement with the Kamaya defendants.

The plaintiff sought leave to assert a statutory cause of action for secondary market misrepresentation under the Securities Act and to certify a class action against SNC-Lavalin and its directors.

The plaintiff alleged that SNC failed to timely disclose a material change when it was informed by the Public Prosecution Service of Canada that it would not be invited to negotiate a remediation agreement regarding criminal charges.

The court dismissed the motions, finding that the communication was not a 'change' in the business, operations, or capital of SNC, and therefore not a 'material change' requiring immediate disclosure.

The court also declined to certify the common law negligent misrepresentation claim, as reliance would be an individual issue and the statutory claim was not viable.

The plaintiffs in a price-fixing class action regarding electrolytic capacitors moved for court approval of a $5.9 million settlement with the Panasonic defendants, as well as approval of class counsel fees and disbursements.

The court found the settlement, which included significant cooperation from the settling defendants, to be fair, reasonable, and in the best interests of the class.

The court also approved the retainer agreements and the requested class counsel fees of $1,487,500 (25% of the settlement) and disbursements of $141,866.96, noting the complexity and risk of the litigation.

The plaintiff in a class action alleging a price-fixing conspiracy regarding film capacitors moved for approval of a settlement with the Panasonic defendants and for approval of class counsel fees.

The court found the $1.35 million settlement, which included valuable cooperation from the settling defendants, to be fair and reasonable despite being heavily discounted from the estimated exposure.

The court also approved the requested class counsel fees of 25% of the settlement, but ordered the payment to be split into two installments to incentivize counsel to advance the litigation more expeditiously.

The plaintiffs brought a motion for judicial approval of 13 discrete auto part class action settlements with the HIAMS, Mitsuba, NGK, and Sumitomo Riko defendants, totaling approximately $14.8 million.

The court found that each of the proposed settlements fell within a zone of reasonableness, noting that the Canadian settlement amounts were proportionate to related American settlements.

The court also approved class counsel's request for a 25 percent contingency fee, plus disbursements and taxes, finding it presumptively valid.

The defendants in a proposed price-fixing class action brought a motion for directions to pause the proceeding pending the release of a Supreme Court of Canada decision in a related case.

The plaintiffs opposed the delay.

The court found that it made sense to await the Supreme Court's decision for efficiency, but declined to vacate the scheduled motion dates immediately.

The court directed that most cross-examinations proceed, but deferred the cross-examination of the plaintiffs' expert economist until after the Supreme Court hearing.

The plaintiffs sought judicial approval of two settlement agreements in class actions alleging price-fixing in the automotive parts industry.

The first settlement with T.Rad was for $1,167,452, and the second with S-Y Systems was for $50,000.

The court found both settlements to be fair, reasonable, and in the best interests of the class, noting they fell within a zone of reasonableness.

The settlements and requested legal fees were approved.

The moving party brought a motion under Rule 34.10 of the Rules of Civil Procedure to compel the responding parties to produce documents in advance of cross-examinations on affidavits sworn in support of the responding parties' summary judgment motions.

The responding parties argued the motion was prohibited under Rule 48.04(1) because the action had been set down for trial, and that the requests were disproportionate.

The court held that Rule 48.04(1) did not bar the motion and the moving party had not waived the right to documentary discovery.

However, because the responding parties had never served affidavits of documents, the court dismissed the motion without prejudice, directing the responding parties to first serve affidavits of documents so that relevance and proportionality could be properly assessed.

The defendants in a proposed price-fixing class action brought a motion to strike the affidavits of the plaintiffs' economics expert, arguing the proposed methodologies for calculating aggregate damages and pass-through rates were invalid and unreliable.

The court applied the test for admissibility of expert evidence and found that the expert's proposed regression models and economic analyses met the threshold for reliability and were highly probative to the certification motion.

The motion to strike was dismissed, with the issue of the legal relevance of umbrella purchaser claims deferred to the certification hearing.

The plaintiffs brought a motion seeking a declaration that several Guatemalan defendants were properly served with a fresh statement of claim outside Ontario or, alternatively, an order validating service.

The proceeding alleged a $400 million conspiracy and fraud causing damage in Ontario.

The court considered Rules 17.02 and 17.05(2) of the Rules of Civil Procedure governing service outside Ontario in non‑contracting states under the Hague Service Convention.

The court held that where the foreign jurisdiction is not a contracting state, parties may serve originating process using Ontario service rules rather than the foreign state's service regime.

Personal service on corporate defendants was valid, and service on individual defendants was validated under rule 16.08 because the claim came to their attention despite attempts to evade service.