Molly Reynolds

The representative plaintiff brought a motion for approval of a settlement and class counsel fees in a class action regarding a data breach on the defendants' online photocentre website.

The settlement provided for credit monitoring and reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses up to a maximum exposure of $1.25 million.

The court found the settlement to be fair, reasonable, and in the best interests of the class, and approved the settlement along with class counsel fees of $250,000.

The plaintiff brought a proposed class action against Walmart Canada Inc. and PNI Digital Media Inc. following a data breach at Walmart's online photocentre.

The parties reached a settlement agreement providing for credit monitoring and reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses up to a combined maximum of $750,000.

The plaintiff brought a motion on consent to certify the action as a class proceeding for settlement purposes.

The court found that all criteria under section 5(1) of the Class Proceedings Act, 1992 were met and granted the motion.

The court considered whether an interim injunctive order granted during an adjournment of an application remained in effect after the application did not proceed on the scheduled return date.

The applicant had obtained an adjournment to conduct cross-examinations on affidavit evidence but failed to conduct the cross-examination and failed to file the necessary confirmation for the rescheduled hearing.

The court held that the interim injunction was granted on strict terms tied to the adjournment and anticipated cross-examination.

Because those conditions were not fulfilled and the application did not proceed, the basis for the interim relief no longer existed.

The court confirmed that the interim injunction expired on the scheduled return date but allowed the applicant to seek further interim relief in a future appearance.

The plaintiffs, representing a class of Barbados participating policyholders, brought an action against Manulife following the transfer of their policies to Life of Barbados (LOB) in 1996 and Manulife's subsequent demutualization in 1999.

The plaintiffs claimed that Manulife owed them a duty of care and a fiduciary duty to protect their rights to participate in the demutualization.

The court found that while it was reasonably foreseeable that Manulife would demutualize, no duty of care or fiduciary duty was owed to the plaintiffs because their rights as policyholders were lawfully extinguished by the transfer agreement, which was approved by regulators in Barbados and Canada.

The action was dismissed.