Case information

Civil procedure — Class actions — Possibility of remitting portion of remaining balance to representative plaintiff for class action — When it becomes appropriate to remit remaining balance — Criteria that should guide determination of who should receive remaining balance — Whether risk of appearance of conflict of interest of possible recipient of remaining balance must disqualify him or her in every case regardless of criterion of interests of class members.

Case summaries are prepared by the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada (Law Branch). Please note that summaries are not provided to the Judges of the Court. They are placed on the Court file and website for information purposes only.

The applicant, Option consommateurs, acted as representative plaintiff for the members of the class of a class action brought in 2004 against the respondents and other companies that were manufacturers of DRAM (a microchip that allows information to be stored electronically). In the Superior Court, Option consommateurs applied for, among other things, the distribution of a remaining balance, including a payment of $175,286.24 to itself.

The Superior Court declared that Option consommateurs was entitled to no portion of the balance. In its view, the Code of Civil Procedure did not authorize this, as such a payment can be made only to a third party. The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal. The majority agreed with the Superior Court that a remaining balance cannot be remitted to either of the parties — the representative plaintiff or the defendant — to the class action. Schrager J.A., dissenting, would have allowed the appeal and declared that the remaining balance could be distributed to Option consommateurs.