Margaret L. Waddell

This is a costs decision arising from a class action certification motion concerning the now-defunct "birth alerts" policy issued by Children's Aid Societies in Ontario.

The plaintiffs sought to certify a class action against the province of Ontario and 50 CAS defendants on behalf of mothers claiming compensation for discriminatory treatment.

The court certified the action against Ontario but denied certification against the CAS defendants due to structural defects in the pleading (the Ragoonanan problem).

The plaintiffs settled with Ontario for $300,000 in all-inclusive costs.

The CAS defendants sought $564,318.61 in costs.

The court reduced this amount to $335,000, applying a 40% discount under section 31(1) of the Class Proceedings Act to reflect the public interest nature of the case and access to justice concerns.

The court dismissed IBM Canada Ltd.'s appeal from an endorsement refusing to strike certain paragraphs from Bruce Maule’s Fourth Amended Statement of Claim in a wrongful dismissal action.

The court found that the pleadings regarding systemic age discrimination and the employment circumstances of other IBM US employees were relevant, not overly broad, and not an abuse of process.

The court held that the pleadings were sufficiently particularized and provable, and that any concerns about discovery scope or prejudice could be managed at trial.

The decision affirms the importance of allowing claims of systemic discrimination to proceed where material facts are pleaded.

This decision certifies a class action against the Province of Ontario regarding the issuance of "Birth Alerts" by Ontario children's aid societies (CASs), but declines to certify the action against the CASs themselves.

The court finds that the claims against the CASs suffer from the "Ragoonanan problem"—the lack of a representative plaintiff with a claim against each defendant—and that the CASs acted independently, not collectively.

The action against Ontario, however, is certified on the basis of negligence and breaches of sections 7 and 15 of the Charter, as the Province had oversight authority and failed to act to stop the practice despite being able to do so.

The court sets out the certified class, common issues, and clarifies the preferable procedure for such claims.

The court approved a settlement agreement in a class action concerning losses suffered by investors in a syndicated mortgage loan promoted by Fortress Real Developments Inc. and Fortress Real Capital Inc. The settlement, reached with FMP Mortgage Investments Inc. and related defendants, provides for a $3,000,000 payment to class members, representing a substantial portion of the available insurance.

The court also certified the action as a class proceeding for the purposes of the settlement, approved class counsel fees, and made ancillary orders to facilitate the administration of the settlement and protect the parties involved.

The defendant, IBM Canada Ltd., brought a motion to strike certain pleadings from the plaintiff's Second Amended Statement of Claim.

The impugned pleadings alleged systemic age discrimination by IBM U.S. and referenced employment circumstances of IBM U.S. employees, which the plaintiff claimed were connected to his wrongful dismissal and age discrimination by IBM Canada.

The court dismissed IBM Canada's motion, finding the pleadings relevant to the claims of systemic discrimination and punitive damages, particularly given the alleged operational connection between IBM U.S. and IBM Canada regarding the plaintiff's employment decisions.

The dismissal was conditional on the plaintiff making proposed amendments to narrow the scope of the allegations.

This is a costs endorsement following a judgment by the Court of Appeal for Ontario, which had previously dismissed both the appellant's appeal and the respondents' cross-appeal.

The Court determined the costs payable, awarding the primary respondents $50,000 from the appellant, despite the respondents seeking over $71,000 and the appellant proposing $40,000.

The Court was not persuaded by the appellant's public interest argument or the relevance of costs awarded in a comparable case that were based on party agreement.

Additionally, the Law Foundation of Ontario, which responded to the cross-appeal, was awarded $10,000 in costs from the primary respondents.

The appellant, John Peters, appealed the dismissal of his motion for leave to bring a statutory cause of action under the Securities Act for alleged failure to disclose a material change, and for class action certification.

The alleged material change was a September 4, 2018, telephone call where the PPSC advised SNC-Lavalin that it would not be invited to negotiate a remediation agreement.

The motion judge found no reasonable possibility that the call constituted a "change" in SNC's business, operations, or capital.

SNC-Lavalin cross-appealed the costs order, which reduced their costs due to the case's legal novelty and public interest.

The Court of Appeal dismissed both the appeal, affirming the motion judge's interpretation of "material change" and application of the leave test, and the cross-appeal, upholding the discretionary costs decision.

The proposed representative plaintiff in a product liability class action sought a protective order to anonymize their identity and seal sensitive personal information due to a history of sexual violence and PTSD, which led to their cannabis use and subsequent Cannabis Hypermesis Syndrome.

The defendants did not oppose the motion.

The court granted the order, applying the Sherman Estate test, finding that court openness posed a serious risk to the plaintiff's well-being and dignity, no reasonable alternatives existed, and the benefits of protecting the plaintiff and encouraging other trauma survivors to access justice outweighed the minimal impact on court openness.

The plaintiff, David Trueman, in a proposed class action, sought leave to amend the Fourth Amended Statement of Claim to add a new sub-class and particularize existing claims.

The proposed amendments related to allegations that Rogers Communications and Rogers Bank obtained private credit information through unauthorized soft credit checks to pre-approve and issue unsolicited credit cards, in breach of privacy rights and contract.

The defendants opposed, arguing the amendments introduced a new, time-barred claim based on a breach of Bank Act regulations.

The court found that the amendments did not introduce a new cause of action but rather particularized existing claims for breach of contract and privacy, with the issuance of unsolicited credit cards being a consequence of the alleged wrongful conduct.

Therefore, no limitation period issue arose.

The court granted the plaintiff's motion to amend the statement of claim and awarded costs to the plaintiff.

The plaintiffs in three proposed class actions sought orders to note three corporate defendants (the "Fortress Defendants") in default of defence.

The motions were dismissed.

The court found that despite multiple attempts, the plaintiffs' Class Counsel failed to properly serve the amended originating process on the Fortress Defendants in accordance with the Rules of Civil Procedure, specifically rules 16.02(1)(c) and 26.04(3).

The court upheld the registrar's rejections, emphasizing the strict adherence required for service rules, especially given the significant financial implications of a default judgment.

This appeal concerned an anti-SLAPP motion under s. 137.1 of the Courts of Justice Act.

The appellant, a medical resident, sued an investigation firm and its investigator for defamation based on executive summaries of a workplace harassment investigation.

The motion judge dismissed the action, finding the summaries related to a matter of public interest, were protected by qualified privilege, and lacked evidence of malice.

The Court of Appeal upheld the dismissal, confirming that the expressions related to public interest due to the nature of the educational institution, media attention, and public safety concerns, and were protected by qualified privilege.

The plaintiff in a certified class action brought a refusals motion seeking to compel answers to questions refused during cross-examinations on the defendants' affidavits of documents.

The court dismissed the motion in its entirety, finding that the questions regarding the scope of documentary production, missing documents, and search terms were premature and irrelevant because the parties had not yet settled a discovery plan.

The court held that the scope of documentary discovery must be determined on the pending discovery plan motion before the adequacy of the affidavits of documents could be assessed.

Following the dismissal of Hockey Canada's motion to withdraw an affidavit and the vacating of its summary judgment motion, the plaintiff sought costs.

The plaintiff claimed partial indemnity costs for the motion and full indemnity for costs thrown away, totaling over $70,000.

The court found the plaintiff's claimed hours excessive due to duplication of work by multiple timekeepers and determined that some work done for the summary judgment motion could be repurposed for trial.

The court fixed the costs payable by Hockey Canada to the plaintiff at $25,000 all-inclusive.

This decision addresses a class action arising from a cyber breach of CarePartners' computer system.

The plaintiffs sought certification of the class for settlement purposes, approval of the settlement agreement, and approval of class counsel fees and honoraria for the representative plaintiffs.

The court granted all motions, certifying the class, approving a $3.44 million settlement fund, a 20% contingency fee for class counsel, and $5,000 honoraria for each representative plaintiff.

The judgment notably provides a detailed analysis and affirmation of the practice of awarding honoraria to representative plaintiffs in class actions, disagreeing with a recent decision that sought to end the practice, and outlining factors for assessing their quantum.

The plaintiffs brought a motion for court approval of a $10 million settlement in a certified class action against a ballet school and a former instructor/photographer for alleged sexual assault and privacy breaches.

The plaintiffs also sought approval of Class Counsel's fees and honoraria for the representative plaintiffs and certain class members.

The court approved the settlement as fair, reasonable, and in the best interests of the class, and approved Class Counsel's fee request of $2.25 million.

However, the court declined to approve the requested honoraria, holding on principle that the practice of awarding a stipend to representative plaintiffs for prosecuting a civil claim is contrary to the administration of justice and should be stopped.

The plaintiff in a certified class action moved for an order approving the condensed, short-form, and long-form notices of certification, the plan for their dissemination, and related matters including the appointment of a notice administrator and the production of class member information by the defendants.

The defendants did not oppose the relief sought.

The court granted the order, approving the notices and notice plan, appointing RicePoint Administration Inc. as the Notice Administrator, and compelling the defendants to provide vehicle identification numbers and class member contact information for notice purposes, while also addressing privacy concerns and opt-out procedures.

The plaintiff, having successfully certified a class action against BMW, sought substantial indemnity costs for the certification motion, totaling $367,210.28.

BMW proposed a costs award between $225,000 and $285,000.

The court awarded the plaintiff $300,000 on a partial indemnity basis, inclusive of fees, disbursements, and HST.

The court declined to award substantial indemnity costs, finding that Rule 49 (Offer to Settle) is an ill fit for certification motions and that defendants are entitled to resist certification without incurring punitive costs, provided their conduct does not unnecessarily lengthen proceedings.

The court also largely rejected BMW's arguments of overbilling by class counsel.

Three competing groups of law firms sought carriage of a proposed class action against LifeLabs following a massive data breach affecting 15 million patients.

The court evaluated the competing proposals based on factors including the experience of counsel, overall approach, and proposed fee arrangements.

Carriage was awarded to the McPhadden Group (the Carter action) because their proposal for a single national class action was preferred over parallel actions, and their proposed contingency fee arrangement was significantly more cost-effective for the class.

The plaintiff brought a motion to certify a class action against the defendants regarding alleged defects in the power steering systems of certain Mini Cooper vehicles.

The plaintiff alleged the defects could cause a dangerous loss of power steering or a vehicle fire.

The defendants admitted the power steering system was defective but denied it posed an unreasonable safety risk or caused fires.

The court found that the plaintiff had pleaded a viable cause of action in negligence and met the 'some basis in fact' standard for the remaining certification criteria, including an identifiable class, common issues, preferable procedure, and representative plaintiff.

The certification motion was granted.

The defendants sought costs following their success on two interlocutory motions in a proposed class action: the dismissal of the plaintiff's motion for document production and the granting of the defendants' motion to strike inadmissible affidavit evidence.

The plaintiff argued for a significantly reduced costs award, citing divided success and the novelty of the production issue.

The court rejected the plaintiff's arguments, finding no divided success and that the defendants' costs were reasonable and proportionate.

Costs were fixed at $35,000 all inclusive, payable to the defendants in any event of the certification motion.