Loretta Merritt

In a class action regarding institutional child abuse at Grenville Christian College, the court addressed the individual issues stage.

The defendants were judgment-proof and had erratic insurance coverage over the 25-year class period, creating a fairness issue where some class members would recover nothing while others would be fully compensated.

The court conditionally approved a three-step Individual Issues Litigation Plan that diverts uninsured claims to a claims program and pools recoveries from insured claims into a Distribution Fund to be shared fairly among all eligible class members.

The plaintiffs, former boarding students of Grenville Christian College, brought a class action against the school and the estates of its former headmasters for systemic negligence and breach of fiduciary duty.

The court found that the school operated as a 'total institution' and employed abusive, arbitrary, and humiliating disciplinary practices, including excessive corporal punishment and public shaming, which fell below the standard of care for educational institutions in Ontario.

The court concluded that the defendants breached their duty of care and fiduciary obligations to the students, and that their conduct merited an award of punitive damages.

Following the dismissal of a proposed class action certification motion and the dismissal of claims against one defendant for failure to disclose a reasonable cause of action, the court determined the appropriate costs awards.

The defendants sought substantial partial indemnity costs for successfully resisting certification and for obtaining dismissal of the claim against the diocesan defendant.

The plaintiffs and the Class Proceedings Fund argued for reductions based on public interest, access to justice concerns, and alleged unnecessary litigation steps.

The court rejected arguments for a public interest or access-to-justice discount and confirmed that the ordinary rule that costs follow the event applies in class proceedings.

The Grenville defendants were awarded their full claimed costs, while the diocesan defendant’s claim was reduced as excessive.

The plaintiffs, former residential students at Grenville Christian College, moved to certify a class action against the school, its former headmasters, and the Anglican Diocese of Ontario, alleging systemic physical and psychological abuse and religious indoctrination.

The court dismissed the action against the Diocese, finding it plain and obvious that the Diocese owed no duty of care, was not vicariously liable, and had no fiduciary relationship with the students.

The court also dismissed the certification motion against the remaining defendants, concluding that a class proceeding was not the preferable procedure because the common issues of systemic negligence would not significantly advance the individual claims.

Instead, the court suspended the dismissal for six months to allow the plaintiffs to propose a new litigation plan to continue the action as a group of case-managed individual actions.