Class Actions

On September 20, 2019, the Supreme Court of Canada issued a decision in Godfrey v Sony Corp., a class action related to alleged price-fixing in the market for optical disc drives (“ODDs”). The decision provides clarity on four significant issues in price-fixing litigation. The Co…

Removing straitjackets, and widening the potential scope of parent company liability for a subsidiary’s actions Can the parent company of a multinational group owe a duty of care to a third party for the actions of a foreign operating subsidiary? There remains no definitive answer at the tim…

On July 17, 2019, the Law Commission of Ontario (“LCO”) released its final report, Class Actions: Objectives, Experience and Reforms. The LCO report makes 47 recommendations to reform Ontario’s Class Proceeding Act (“CPA”) and related policies. One major theme of the report is that the speed…

On April 17, 2019 the Court of Appeal of Ontario released its decision in Hughes v. Liquor Control Board of Ontario, 2019 ONCA 305 [Hughes]. The Court of Appeal’s decision provides guidance to counsel on the scope of the Regulated Conduct Defence (the “RCD”). The RCD is a defence in the Comp…

Mandatory Arbitration Provisions in the Class Action Context: TELUS Communications Inc. v. Wellman, 2019 SCC 19 On April 4, 2019, the Supreme Court of Canada issued reasons in TELUS Communications Inc. v. Wellman. The Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision provides important guidance on the applicabil…

On February 27, the OSC announced awards of $7.5 million to three whistleblowers in connection with three separate matters. The awards are the first of their kind by a Canadian securities regulator. In a news release, the OSC said the awards were the result of the whistleblowers’ “timely, sp…

Traditional investors buy low and sell high, holding the position in the meantime with the hope that the share price will increase. Short-selling inverts this strategy and involves borrowing a stock that is believed to be overvalued, selling at the high point, and then returning the shares o…

Overview Over the last several years, the Ontario and British Columbia courts have grappled with significant issues affecting the scope and viability of price-fixing class actions. One of these issues is whether “umbrella purchasers” have a cause of action in a price-fixing conspiracy class …

Shah v LG Chem Ltd., 2018 ONCA 819 Background: In this class action, the plaintiffs allege that the defendants conspired to fix the prices of lithium-ion batteries (“LIBs”) in North America and elsewhere between January 2000 and December 2011. As a result, the plaintiffs paid higher prices f…