Ted Brook

The representative plaintiff sought approval of a proposed settlement in a class action proceeding under the Class Proceedings Act.

The settlement involved claims that the defendant charged duplicative non-sufficient funds fees on pre-authorized debit transactions without proper disclosure.

The court approved a settlement fund of $7,050,000, with each of approximately 172,000 class members receiving an estimated $25 after deductions for counsel fees, taxes, disbursements, and funder's levy.

The court also approved class counsel fees and an honorarium of $5,000 to the representative plaintiff.

The court approved a $500 million settlement in a national class action concerning a price-fixing conspiracy in the packaged bread market, resolving claims against Loblaw Companies Limited and related entities.

The settlement includes a substantial damages payment, a distribution protocol for class members, and a cooperation agreement by Loblaw to assist in ongoing litigation against non-settling defendants.

The court also approved class counsel fees and the payout to a third-party funder, finding the settlement fair, reasonable, and in the best interests of the class.

The court considered a Rule 21 motion by Shell Canada Products and Tosh Skalosky to strike the claim against Skalosky personally.

The court found that the plaintiffs failed to plead material facts supporting personal liability against Skalosky, as required by law.

The claim against Skalosky was struck, but the plaintiffs were granted leave to amend their claim if they could plead sufficient facts.

Each party was ordered to bear their own costs.

The moving parties, RBC Insurance Agency Ltd. and Aviva General Insurance Company, brought a motion for leave to appeal the order of Glustein J. dated March 2, 2023.

The Divisional Court dismissed the motion for leave to appeal without costs.

The moving parties brought a motion for leave to appeal an order of the Superior Court of Justice.

The Divisional Court dismissed the motion for leave to appeal and awarded costs of $5,000 to the responding party.

The plaintiffs moved for court approval of a proposed settlement in a class action against Symantec Corporation concerning defective NortonTM-branded security software.

The settlement, valued at approximately $21.7 million, includes cash payments, free licenses, and discount codes for 640,000 Ontario class members.

After 7 years of litigation, discovery, and mediations, the parties reached an arm's length agreement.

The court approved the settlement, finding it fair, reasonable, and in the best interests of the class, despite a small number of objections.

The defendants in a class action brought a motion seeking the production of class counsel's redacted dockets to respond to the plaintiffs' costs submissions following certification.

The plaintiffs opposed the production.

The court dismissed the motion, holding that the production of dockets to support costs submissions on a motion is only ordered in exceptional cases to protect solicitor-client privilege.

The court found that the substantial amount of costs claimed, the disparity between the parties' costs, and alleged incongruities in the costs outline did not constitute exceptional circumstances warranting production.

The Superior Court of Justice approved identical third-party funding agreements in four related class actions against major Canadian banks.

The actions allege that the banks charged duplicative non-sufficient funds fees on single dishonoured pre-authorized debits.

The court, applying Section 33.1 of the Class Proceedings Act, 1992, found the agreements to be fair and reasonable, noting the staged success fee was comparable to or more advantageous than the Class Proceedings Fund levy.

The court confirmed the agreements preserved plaintiff control over litigation, ensured the funder's financial capacity for adverse costs, and included appropriate confidentiality and deemed undertaking provisions.

The defendants took no position on the motions.

The appellants appealed a certification order in a price-fixing class action regarding packaged bread.

They argued the motions judge erred by excluding indirect purchasers who bought bread from non-defendant retailers.

The Divisional Court dismissed the appeal, finding that the motions judge properly settled the certification order to reflect his reasons and the nature of the single conspiracy pleaded, which required the product to pass through both a defendant producer and a defendant retailer.

The plaintiff in a certified class action regarding unpaid statutory vacation and holiday pay moved to settle the Notice Plan and Notice of Certification.

The parties disagreed on the opt-out deadline, the contents of the opt-out affidavit, and the text of the Notice of Certification.

The court held that the opt-out deadline should be 60 days after the last notice is published and that the opt-out affidavit must identify the individuals who opted out.

However, the court rejected the defendants' proposed revisions to the Notice of Certification, finding them to be unnecessary, unfair, and potentially intimidating to class members.

The Notice of Certification was approved substantially in the form drafted by class counsel.

This motion concerned the substitution of a representative plaintiff in a class action alleging underpayment of vacation and public holiday pay on variable compensation by RBC General Insurance Company and Aviva General Insurance Company.

The original proposed representative plaintiff, Deval Trivedi, was found to be statute-barred against Aviva General.

The plaintiff sought to substitute Binay Saroop as the representative plaintiff against Aviva General and to amend the statement of claim.

The court found that Saroop met the 'some basis in fact' test to rebut the statutory presumption regarding the limitation period and did not have a disqualifying conflict of interest, thus being an adequate representative plaintiff.

The motion to substitute Saroop and amend the claim was granted.

The defendants brought a motion for leave to appeal the order of Belobaba J. dated December 29, 2022.

The Divisional Court dismissed the motion for leave to appeal.

As the responding party did not provide costs submissions, the court made no order as to costs.

The plaintiff brought a motion on consent to certify a class proceeding against the defendant bank regarding its practice of charging multiple non-sufficient funds (NSF) fees on re-presented pre-authorized debit transactions.

The court reviewed the five-part test under section 5(1) of the Class Proceedings Act, 1992.

Finding that the pleadings disclosed a cause of action in breach of contract and unjust enrichment, and that the other criteria including an identifiable class and common issues were met, the court granted the consent certification order.

Following the death of the judge who certified this national class action regarding vacation and public holiday pay, the parties could not agree on the terms of the certification order.

The plaintiff brought a motion to settle the order under rule 59.04(14).

The court settled the class definition start dates by applying the ultimate limitation periods for provinces that have them, and the basic limitation periods (adjusted for Covid-19 suspensions) for provinces that do not.

The court also compendiously restated the liability common issue to include unjust enrichment.

The plaintiffs brought a motion for leave to appeal an order excluding from the class for certification persons who claim damages for purchases of packaged bread directly or indirectly sold by a defendant producer without being resold by a defendant retailer.

The Divisional Court granted the motion for leave to appeal on this issue and reserved costs to the panel hearing the appeal.

The defendants brought a motion for leave to appeal an order of Morgan J. dated December 31, 2021.

The Divisional Court dismissed the motion for leave to appeal.

Costs were awarded in favour of the plaintiffs in the amount of $15,000 all inclusive, payable jointly and severally by the defendants.

The moving party brought a motion for leave to appeal an earlier order.

The Divisional Court dismissed the motion for leave to appeal in writing, awarding costs of $10,000 to the responding parties other than one specific respondent.

The proposed representative plaintiff brought a motion to certify a class action against RBC Insurance Agency Ltd. and Aviva General Insurance Company for alleged failure to pay vacation and public holiday pay on variable compensation to Property & Casualty Insurance Advisors.

The court granted certification against RBC IA, finding some basis in fact for the claims and that a class action was the preferable procedure.

However, the court found the proposed representative plaintiff's claim against Aviva General was presumptively statute-barred and conditionally certified the action against Aviva General, allowing 100 days to find a new representative plaintiff.

The plaintiff brought a motion to certify a national class action alleging that the defendant brokerage firm failed to provide vacation and public holiday pay to commissioned employees in breach of employment standards legislation.

The defendant argued that commissions continued to be paid while employees were on vacation and that the onus was on employees to prove non-payment.

The court found that the employer bears the burden of proving statutory payments were recorded and made, and that the absence of a class-wide system to record and report these obligations provided some evidence of commonality.

The court certified the class action, finding all requirements under section 5(1) of the Class Proceedings Act, 1992 were met.

The moving party, Telus Communications Inc., brought a motion for leave to appeal the orders of Perell J. dated January 12, 2021 and August 19, 2022.

The Divisional Court dismissed the motion for leave to appeal and awarded costs to the responding party fixed at $5,000 all-inclusive.