Paul-Erik Veel

During a class action trial involving cosmetic surgery patients and allegations related to social media consent forms, the defendants called a witness and sought to qualify him as an expert in eDiscovery document collection and retention.

The plaintiffs objected on the basis that the witness lacked independence and impartiality, having blindly followed counsel's instructions and failed to ensure compliance with PHIPA.

The court ruled that the proposed evidence was factual in nature rather than expert opinion, as the witness was simply explaining the steps he took and the data he extracted from electronic medical records.

Since the evidence was factual and not presumptively inadmissible opinion evidence, the court did not need to address the impartiality objections, but noted that cross-examination on those issues could be relevant to the weight of the evidence.

This decision approves a class action settlement and distribution protocol regarding predatory and unconscionable equipment lease agreements, including the registration of Notices of Security Interests (NOSIs) on consumers’ homes.

The court finds the settlement fair, reasonable, and in the best interests of the class, considering the risks of continued litigation, the insolvency of several defendants, and the benefits achieved, including monetary compensation, lease cancellations, and legislative reform.

The court also approves class counsel fees, disbursements, a Class Proceedings Fund levy, and an honorarium for the lead plaintiff.

This decision concerns a certified class proceeding that is progressing towards a settlement approval hearing.

The plaintiffs brought an unopposed motion to appoint Verita Global as the administrator for the implementation of the proposed settlement.

Class counsel, after a request for proposals process, recommended Verita Global based on its extensive experience, capacity to serve vulnerable individuals, communication abilities, reporting, budget, and cybersecurity certification.

The court found class counsel's choice appropriate and approved the appointment of Verita Global as the settlement administrator.

This endorsement addresses two motions arising from a cybertheft of approximately $9.7 million from the applicant's bank account at the respondent bank.

The applicant, FACTOR, sought additional productions from the Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS), alleging a parsimonious approach to disclosure.

BNS, supported by other respondents, sought to convert the application into an action, citing material facts in dispute and complex issues.

The court largely granted FACTOR's production requests, ordering BNS to provide more details from its internal investigation, session logs (with confidentiality), and internal alert system details (with a secure mechanism).

The court also ordered the additional respondents, James Campagna and 10426377 Canada Inc., to produce all relevant documents.

The motion to convert the application to an action was dismissed as premature, with the court noting that the necessity of conversion could be revisited once the respondents deliver their full evidence.

The court addressed two related putative class proceedings concerning predatory equipment lease agreements.

The plaintiffs sought to amend pleadings, add parties, consolidate the actions, certify the consolidated proceeding for settlement, and approve the notice plan.

The court granted all motions, finding that the criteria for class certification under the Class Proceedings Act, 1992, were met in the context of a proposed settlement, and that a class proceeding was the preferable procedure, especially given ongoing CCAA proceedings.

The notice plan for the settlement approval hearing was also approved.

The defendants in several related class actions brought motions for summary judgment, arguing that the plaintiffs' actions were statute-barred by limitation periods or were a nullity for failing to obtain leave to commence.

The court adjourned the limitation period motions, finding they overlapped with common issues in earlier certified class actions.

The court dismissed the motions based on the leave requirement, interpreting the certification orders' leave provisions as applying only to competing class actions representing the same class members, not to actions by different classes arising from the same factual matrix.

The plaintiffs brought two motions in a class action: one to approve a settlement agreement with Graham Turner LLP, declare notice not required under s. 19 of the Class Proceedings Act, approve a notice plan for class members, and grant leave to remove Emily Flammini as a representative plaintiff; and a second motion to approve Class Counsel's legal fees, the Class Proceedings Fund's levy, and the use of the remaining settlement fund for ongoing disbursements.

The court approved the settlement as fair and reasonable, found notice of the hearing unnecessary given the use of funds for disbursements, approved the proposed notice plan, and granted the removal of the representative plaintiff.

Class Counsel's fees and the CPF levy were approved, and the balance of the settlement fund was ordered to be held in trust for the class and applied towards ongoing disbursements.

The Court of Appeal for Ontario heard an appeal and cross-appeal stemming from a wrongful dismissal judgment.

The appellant, Davide Giacomodonato, appealed the damages award, contending the trial judge erred by applying the second employment contract instead of the first.

The court dismissed his appeal, affirming the trial judge's finding of fresh consideration for the second contract, including a $40,000 payment and additional vacation time.

The respondents, PearTree Securities Inc. and PearTree Financial Services Ltd., cross-appealed the costs award.

Their motion for leave to appeal costs was dismissed, as the court found no error in principle in the trial judge's discretionary costs award, which was justified by the respondents' litigation conduct.

The plaintiff brought an unopposed motion to certify the proceeding as a class action under the Class Proceedings Act, 1992.

The action alleges that the defendant improperly paid trailing commissions to discount brokers out of mutual fund assets.

The court found that all certification criteria were met, relying on previous decisions in similar cases, and granted the certification order.

The plaintiff, Davide Giacomodonato, sought costs after successfully prosecuting his wrongful dismissal claim and defending a counterclaim brought by his former employer, PearTree Securities Inc. and PearTree Financial Services Ltd. The court awarded the plaintiff costs on a partial indemnity basis, fixed at $830,761.75, inclusive of disbursements and HST.

The court found that PearTree's counterclaim was meritless and tactical, and that PearTree engaged in inappropriate conduct, including late disclosure of documents, which unnecessarily increased the costs of the proceeding.

PearTree's Rule 49 offer was not given significant weight as the plaintiff achieved a better result.

The plaintiff, an investment banker, sued his former employer for wrongful dismissal and unpaid compensation.

The employer counterclaimed, alleging the plaintiff breached non-competition and non-solicitation clauses by joining a competitor.

The court found that the parties entered into two successive binding employment contracts.

The court made specific findings on how the plaintiff's variable compensation should be calculated under the second contract.

The court awarded the plaintiff $10,000 in punitive damages because the employer improperly withheld amounts admittedly owed to him.

The employer's counterclaim was dismissed in its entirety, as the restrictive covenants were found to be overly broad, unreasonable, and unenforceable.

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 defendants, Costco entities, brought a motion to stay an action initiated by TicketOps Corporation, alleging breach of contract, negligent misrepresentation, and conversion of intellectual property.

The motion was based on arbitration clauses in agreements between the parties.

The plaintiff argued that the claims primarily related to platforms not covered by the arbitration clauses.

Applying the Haas v. Gunasekaram framework, the court found that the defendants had arguably demonstrated that the arbitration agreements applied to all platforms in dispute.

The plaintiff failed to prove that the arbitration provisions were clearly inoperative or unconscionable.

Consequently, the court stayed the action in favour of arbitration, acknowledging the potential for fragmented adjudication due to multiple arbitral forums.

The plaintiffs brought a motion to certify a class action against seven discount brokers, alleging that their receipt of mutual fund trailing commissions prior to the 2022 prohibition was illegal.

The court found that the plaintiffs failed to satisfy the 'some evidence' requirement to show that the practice contravened applicable Canadian securities law.

The evidence filed by the plaintiffs themselves demonstrated that the practice, while controversial, was not illegal before the regulatory amendments took effect.

The motion for certification was dismissed.

The plaintiffs in a class action regarding a charitable donation tax shelter brought a motion to compel the defendants' former legal counsel to produce their client files and answer questions refused during discovery.

The plaintiffs argued that solicitor-client privilege was vitiated by the fraud exception, or alternatively, waived through disclosure of a tax opinion and sharing of information with third-party consultants.

The court dismissed the motion, holding that the fraud exception applies only to criminal conduct, not civil fraud.

The court further held that disclosure of the stand-alone tax opinion did not waive privilege over the entire file, and that communications shared with third-party consultants were protected by common interest privilege and the functional extension of solicitor-client privilege.

The applicants subscribed for flow-through shares in mining companies, which renounced Canadian exploration expenses to them.

The CRA later reassessed the companies and the applicants, disallowing the expenses.

The applicants sought immediate indemnification from the respondent under their subscription agreements for the taxes paid under the reassessments.

The court dismissed the applications, finding that the indemnities were not payable until the amount of taxes was 'definitively determined' or 'determined', which had not yet occurred as the respondent's appeal of the CRA reassessment was still pending.

This decision resolves a carriage motion between two competing proposed class actions (the Bonnick Action and the Blackford-Hall Action) concerning alleged predatory practices in the consumer marketplace for HVAC equipment.

The court interpreted the newly enacted section 13.1 of the Class Proceedings Act, 1992, which focuses on efficiency, productivity, and proportionality.

The court granted carriage to the Bonnick Action, finding its regional scope and targeted case theory against the alleged mastermind and lender corporations to be more efficient and cost-effective than the Blackford-Hall Action's national scope and broader conspiracy claims against multiple defendants.

The representative plaintiff brought a motion to approve a class action settlement regarding unpaid overtime and holiday pay for television production workers misclassified as independent contractors.

The settlement provided for a $1 million payment if a proposed collective agreement was ratified, or $2.5 million if it was not.

The court approved the settlement as fair and reasonable, noting it avoided significant litigation risks regarding certification and individual damages proof.

The court also approved a 30% contingency fee for class counsel and a $7,500 honorarium for the representative plaintiff due to her exceptional involvement in collective bargaining.

During a medical negligence trial, the plaintiffs brought a motion to strike the evidence of the defendant doctor's emergency medicine expert.

The plaintiffs alleged the expert was biased because his spouse, also a physician, had privileges at the defendant hospital.

The court applied the Mohan and White Burgess framework and found no disqualifying bias, noting the expert's opinion was formed before his spouse obtained privileges and he had no relationship with the defendants.

The motion to strike the expert evidence was dismissed.

The plaintiffs brought a medical malpractice and wrongful death action against an emergency room physician, two nurses, and a hospital following the sudden death of a 40-year-old woman from an acute aortic dissection.

The plaintiffs alleged that the defendants breached the standard of care by failing to diagnose the condition, failing to order a CT angiogram, and failing to refer the patient to a specialist in a timely manner.

The plaintiffs also alleged that the medical records were falsified and that the defendants' care was compromised by anti-Black racism and sexism.

The court dismissed the action, finding that the physician and nurses met the applicable standards of care.

The court held that the patient presented with symptoms consistent with more common conditions like acute coronary syndrome, and that the physician's investigative approach was appropriate.

The court also found no evidence of record falsification or discriminatory conduct.