2 total
Class action certified over bank employee’s unauthorized disclosure of customers’ confidential information.
The plaintiffs sought certification of a class proceeding against a bank and a former employee who improperly accessed customers’ confidential financial information and disclosed it to third parties, leading to identity theft and fraud affecting numerous customers.
The court considered the requirements for certification under s. 5(1) of the Class Proceedings Act, 1992, including whether the pleadings disclosed causes of action such as negligence, breach of contract, intrusion upon seclusion, vicarious liability, and waiver of tort.
The court held that several pleaded claims disclosed viable causes of action and that the proposed class of 643 customers whose information had been accessed constituted an identifiable class.
The court further found that the issues of negligence, breach of contract, vicarious liability for intrusion upon seclusion, and waiver of tort raised common issues and that a class proceeding was the preferable procedure for resolving them.
The proposed representative plaintiffs were found to be suitable and capable of advancing the litigation.
Appeal allowed; plaintiff sufficiently pleaded causes of action to survive a Rule 21 motion.
The appellant appealed an order striking out his claims for inducing breach of contract and intentional interference with economic relations on a Rule 21 motion.
The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal, finding that the appellant had pleaded the necessary elements for inducing breach of contract, and that any defences based on implied terms or justification could not be resolved on a Rule 21 motion.
The court also found the cause of action for intentional interference with economic relations was pleaded, though the appellant could seek leave to amend to provide more particularity regarding the unlawful means element.
