Luciana P. Brasil

The applicants, claimants under a Hepatitis C class action settlement, sought leave to sue the settlement administrator, Crawford & Company (Canada) Inc., for breach of contract, negligence, and breach of fiduciary duty.

They alleged mismanagement of the Past Economic Loss and Dependents Fund (PELD Fund) and misleading advice regarding compensation options, which resulted in them receiving only a pro-rata share of their approved compensation.

The court granted leave, applying the "reasonable possibility of success" test.

It found that the proposed claims, if proven, demonstrated a reasonable prospect of success for all three causes of action.

The court distinguished the case from prior decisions denying leave, emphasizing that the allegations pertained to the administrator's conduct in providing advice while aware of fund insolvency, rather than merely challenging compensation calculations.

Arguments regarding release and limitation periods were dismissed as premature at this stage.

This endorsement concerns the approval of an amended distribution protocol for a certified and settled class action against Robert Bosch GmbH.

Due to a larger-than-anticipated residue in the settlement fund, the Representative Plaintiffs requested a revised protocol to distribute the remaining funds pro-rata among direct benefit claimants who had cashed their cheques.

The court approved the proposed distribution, including a final distribution of any remaining residue to the Law Foundation of Ontario’s Access to Justice Fund.

The Court of Appeal for Ontario dismissed an appeal by defendants seeking to hold litigation lenders liable for costs incurred by a class member (Mr. Zuber) who pursued an exaggerated damages claim and incurred substantial debt from litigation loans.

The trial judge had refused to order the lenders to pay costs, finding they did not instigate or control the litigation in a manner amounting to an abuse of process, despite the onerous interest rates and the loans impeding settlement.

The Court of Appeal affirmed this decision, reiterating that non-party costs are limited to "person of straw" or abuse of process scenarios, neither of which applied to the lenders' conduct.

The court also refused leave to cross-appeal the trial judge's decision not to award costs of the motion to the lenders, finding no error in principle.

This motion concerned the approval of class counsel fees, disbursements, and a representative plaintiff honorarium following the settlement of two national class proceedings (2012 and 2016 Actions) against various defendants, including Apple Inc., for an alleged eBook price-fixing conspiracy.

The aggregate settlement amount was $15,175,000.

Class Counsel sought $2.7 million in fees (25% of the Apple settlement, adjusted for Quebec) and $43,669.39 in disbursements, plus a $5,000 honorarium for the representative plaintiff.

The court addressed whether the Class Proceedings Act is a complete code for fee approval, the applicability of the Solicitors Act and its regulations regarding costs and disbursements in "all-in" settlements, and the treatment of notional cost contributions and administration costs.

The court found that the Solicitors Act provisions regarding costs and disbursements should apply harmoniously to class proceedings.

It ruled that disbursements should be deducted from the gross settlement amount, and a notional contribution to costs ($500,000) should be applied before calculating counsel fees.

Settlement administration costs were deemed not a disbursement incurred by counsel.

The court approved class counsel fees of $2,450,000 plus taxes, disbursements of $43,669.39 plus taxes, and an honorarium of $2,500 for the representative plaintiff.

The plaintiffs sought approval of a settlement agreement with the remaining bank defendants in a national class action alleging a conspiracy to fix credit card merchant discount fees.

A joint virtual hearing was held with judges from British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, and Quebec.

The Ontario Superior Court of Justice approved the settlement, adopting the reasons of the British Columbia Supreme Court.

The plaintiffs brought a motion to certify a class action for settlement purposes against five settling bank defendants in a long-running price-fixing conspiracy case regarding credit card merchant discount fees.

The court found that the five requirements for certification under section 5(1) of the Class Proceedings Act, 1992 were satisfied.

The court certified the action against the settling defendants for the purpose of implementing the settlement agreement and approved the notice and plan of dissemination.

A land surveying company brought a class action on behalf of Ontario land surveyors whose plans of survey had been digitized, stored, and copied by the province's electronic land registry service provider without payment of royalties.

The appellant argued that Crown copyright under s. 12 of the Copyright Act did not vest in the registered and deposited plans.

The majority held that the comprehensive provincial land registration regime gave the Crown complete control over the publication process, satisfying the requirements of s. 12.

A concurring minority agreed on the outcome but adopted a different interpretive framework, requiring both that the work be published 'by or under the direction or control' of the Crown and that the work qualify as a 'government work' serving a public purpose.

The appeal was dismissed without costs.

Following the dismissal of a motion brought by the representative plaintiffs in a settlement-approved class action, the defendants sought costs of $17,840 on a partial indemnity basis, requesting they be paid personally by class counsel.

Class counsel argued that awarding costs against them personally would undermine access to justice.

The court held that the defendants' request for costs against class counsel personally was improper, as class counsel was not a party and had committed no misconduct.

However, the court also rejected class counsel's access to justice arguments, finding that the representative plaintiffs, as the losing parties, were responsible for costs in the normal course.

Costs of $17,840 were awarded to the defendants, payable by the representative plaintiffs.

The defendants moved to strike the plaintiffs' statement of claim, arguing no reasonable cause of action, lack of standing for the Barbra Schlifer Clinic, and that the action was frivolous, vexatious, and an abuse of process.

The plaintiffs sought declarations of systemic sex discrimination by the London Police Service in investigating sexual assault complaints and an order for a court-supervised external review.

The court allowed the motion in part, affirming that the claim was not plainly and obviously bound to fail and that the Clinic had public interest standing.

However, several paragraphs of the statement of claim were struck for pleading evidence or being vexatious and inflammatory.

The plaintiffs brought a motion to certify a class action against National Bank, Visa, and Mastercard for settlement purposes.

The action alleges the defendants conspired to fix or increase Merchant Discount Fees and Interchange Fees paid by merchants accepting Visa or Mastercard.

The court found that all criteria for certification under s. 5(1) of the Class Proceedings Act, 1992 were met and granted the motion for certification for settlement purposes, approving the notice and notice plan.

The plaintiff, Keatley Surveying Ltd., brought a class action against Teranet Inc., alleging copyright infringement for scanning, copying, and making available online plans of survey registered in Ontario's electronic land registry system.

Both parties moved for summary judgment on common issues, primarily concerning whether copyright in the plans belonged to the Province of Ontario under s. 12 of the Copyright Act upon registration or deposit.

The court held that while copyright subsisted in the plans, it belonged to the Province of Ontario pursuant to s. 12 of the Copyright Act, as a result of their registration or deposit in the land registry office, which transferred ownership of the property, including copyright, to the Crown.

Consequently, Teranet, acting under license from the province, did not infringe copyright.

The defendant's motion for summary judgment was granted, and the class action was dismissed.

In a certified class action concerning a copyright dispute, both parties filed motions for summary judgment.

The defendant filed its motion prior to certification, while the plaintiff filed its motion post-certification.

The court held that the plaintiff's post-certification motion should proceed first to ensure the common issues are decided as certified and bind the entire class.

The court also permitted the plaintiff to supplement its motion record with three additional affidavits.