Kelly Lynn Friedman

This decision concerns the judicial approval of three settlements in ongoing auto-parts price-fixing class actions.

The plaintiffs moved for approval of settlements with Hitachi (CDN$6,667,084), Autoliv (US$3.2 million), and Leoni (CDN$250,000), along with substantial cooperation from the defendants.

The court also considered certification for settlement purposes for the Occupant Safety Systems action against Autoliv and the Automotive Wire Harness Systems action against Leoni.

The court approved all settlements, finding them within a zone of reasonableness based on U.S. settlements, Canadian sales, and cooperation provided.

Additionally, class counsel's legal fees (25% of allocated settlement amounts) and honoraria for representative plaintiffs were approved, emphasizing the importance of robust contingency fee arrangements for access to justice.

The moving party sought court approval of a class action settlement alleging that the defendant utility breached s. 4 of the Interest Act by charging monthly interest on overdue accounts without disclosing the equivalent annual rate.

The proposed settlement provided approximately $5.8 million in compensation through refunds to certain class members, cancellation of excess interest charges, and cy près distributions to charitable organizations.

The court applied the established settlement approval criteria and concluded the agreement was fair, reasonable, and within the range of acceptable outcomes given litigation risks and administrative constraints.

The court also approved class counsel’s contingency fee of 25% of the recovery.

However, the request for a $2,500 honorarium for the representative plaintiff was denied because the circumstances did not meet the threshold of exceptional contribution.

The plaintiff brought a motion for leave to amend his statement of claim and to continue a stay of enforcement of a summary judgment obtained by the defendants in a related mortgage action.

The proposed amendments included allegations of forged documents by a former employee of the defendants in connection with investment transactions.

The court granted leave to amend, holding that limitation issues could be pleaded by the defendants and that the allegations were not clearly irrelevant or barred by res judicata.

However, applying Rule 20.08 of the Rules of Civil Procedure, the court declined to continue a full stay of the prior judgment, finding only a tenuous connection between the investment claim and the mortgage debt, uncertainty about the merits and damages of the plaintiff’s claim, and potential prejudice to the defendants.

The stay was partially lifted, requiring payment of $400,000 toward the judgment.