Class Action Canada - Know your rights - Monkhouse Law (2024)

Alexandra Monkhouse, employment lawyer at Monkhouse Law explains:

1. What is a collective action?

Class actions are procedural means of bringing together small claims that would not make sense to litigate individually while simultaneously dealing with an entire class. In Ontario, you do not need to register for a class action. Once an action is certified, you have the option to unsubscribe, but as long as you don't unsubscribe, everyone is in.

2. How do you start a collective action?

To file a class action, you need one representative plaintiff acting for a class of two or more people.

3. What types of collective actions are there?

There are three types of collective actions in the field of employment: collective actions for misclassification, collective actions based on minimum standards and collective actions in the field of pension schemes. Generally, a judge looks for a class, which is a group of two or more people who have common issues - meaning they have common legal and factual problems - and a cause of action, which means the harm caused attributed in law. .

4. Could my participation in a class action create a risk of retaliation?

A company will not bring a claim against you if you are part of a class action. They will defend the action, but they have no individual recourse against the potential class members or even subsequent class members.

5. Can winning a class action affect my income and taxes?

Everything affects your taxes. If you get more money, that money is usually taxed as employment income. But it is always good news for the recipients to get more work income.

6. What is the first step in a class action?

Certification is the first step in a collective action. At that point, the judge decides that the action is classifiable and that the group is a class that may have suffered the same injury. The steps prior to certification are: filing the claim, conducting cross-examination and cross-examination of affidavits filed by the representing claimant and by the defendant, and then the certification hearing itself.

7. How long does the process take?

Class actions are long fights. They can last for years. In general, the rule of thumb is that it takes about two years to get a case certified, at which point the defendant may consider settling the case, or it may be a lengthy battle to get a deficiency judgment in court.

For more information about class actions, please contact Monkhouse Law.

Monkhouse Law is an employment law firm based in Toronto that focuses on employment law issues. Call us at 416-907-9249 or fill out this quick form. We offer you a free 30-minute telephone consultation.