Sotos Class Actions

Data breaches are becoming all too common. Canadians entrust companies with all sorts of personal information. This data can be immensely profitable to fraudsters. And high-profile breaches — from Yahoo!’s in 2013 to Equifax’s in 2017 to Capital One’s this year — seem to be on the rise. Millions of Canadians have had their personal […]

If you have ever felt pressured to purchase something online that very second, it turns out that may not be your fault. A recent study out of Princeton University sheds light on “dark patterns”, or deceptive marketing practices that websites use to manipulate online shoppers – to complete a sale or spend more money.[efn_note]Arunesh Mathur, […]

Vapes, or e-cigarettes, have long been sold as a safer alternative to cigarettes, or an easier way to quit smoking. As it turns out, doctors have found that they are about as harmful as the real thing. More specifically, the flavourings post risks for your heart. CBC News reports that Joseph Wu and a team […]

Most people have had the experience of a pushy door-to-door sales representative who will not take ‘no’ for an answer.  Unfortunately, these sales tactics often result in homeowners being misled and pressured into signing contracts they don’t fully understand, for products that don’t perform as they were led to believe they would. Ontario has banned […]

A number of people have complained about a Toronto-based weight-loss scheme. The company, Weight Loss Grants, promised consumers money if they lost weight. According to Global News, the scheme offered to reimburse consumers for certain weight-loss expenses if they successfully met their goal on a certain date. The company directed participants to weight-loss services offered […]

What is a class action? A class action is a legal procedure in which one person brings a lawsuit on behalf of a group of people (the class) who have similar claims. The goal is to get justice for members of the class without each of them having to spend time, money and effort individually. […]

Anyone who knows me knows I have particularly strong view about small overcharges. I wrote an LLM thesis on the topic.[efn_note]”Keep The Change?: A behavioural approach to class action antipathy where losses are trivial” (2018) [pdf].[/efn_note] Here’s my thing: assuming companies deal with thousands or millions of customers, and assuming customers aren’t going to sue […]

Flynally. After years of airline passengers paying out of pocket for airlines’ delays and mistakes, the federal government has offered a glimmer of hope: new air passenger protection regulations. The aim is to ensure that customers are treated fairly throughout their journeys, level the playing field, and foster consumer confidence in airlines, according to the […]

Canadians send over a million electronic money transfers – over $360 million – each day. But, as CBC News reports, e-transfers may not be as secure as you think. Anne Hoover discovered this the hard way. She sent more than $1,700 by e-transfer to a friend, only to find that it was lost in transit. […]

On March 28, 2019, after filing for bankruptcy, discount airline WOW Air cancelled all operations and grounded flights leaving thousands of Canadian travellers stranded across Europe and North America. Without other options, Canadian travellers who booked return flights with WOW Air had to pay out of pocket to return home with no compensation from the […]