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.
