Class actions are a relatively recent feature and litigation trend of the Canadian legal system and the range of cases is continually growing. It refers to an action whereby one or more claimants can seek collective relief for themselves and on behalf of other individuals who have similar claims. They pose new challenges for defendants who must now face a large damage penalty.
During the recent years, there have been many areas of law such as, consumer protection law, defective products and manufacturer’s liability, employment law disputes, shareholders’ disputes, major environmental accidents, and franchise law that have benefited from this approach to litigation.
Defective or dangerous products are the cause of thousands of injuries every
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In 2012, one of the largest companies in Canada agreed to settle a class action lawsuit brought by 1000 Canadians who used the drug Vioxx, known for arthritic pain. It was used by many people since 1999, but it was later known that many consumers who used Vioxx had suffered from heart attacks and strokes. The plaintiffs argued that Merck knew about it, but they did not inform their customers about its adverse effects. Merck agreed to pay $21.8 to $36.8 million to settle this particular class action in Canada. Here, again we can see that class actions have been beneficial, since claimants received damages, and there has been a large group of people with a similar claim thus leading to a stronger negotiating …show more content…
Thus, it is reasonable for consumers to be able to afford to litigate the case. In addition, a class action law suit is decided by only a judge, so inconsistent verdicts do not become a problem. The litigation takes less court time, thus leading to greater judicial efficiency. The most important advantage is that all plaintiffs have the opportunity to receive damages caused by the defendant. When the class wins the lawsuit, all members in the class action receive some payment, even if the amount is not enough to cover the damages. However, in the absence of a class action, if the defendant is facing several lawsuits, he would pay greater compensation for the same injuries to earlier filing plaintiffs as compared to the later filing plaintiffs. Therefore, this particular risk does not exist in class action
Stirling Bridge had been a thriving power tool business for over 100 years. The company had sold and distributed power tools and equipment all over the U.S., Europe, and third world countries. Recently one of Stirling Bridge’s top selling products, the Braveheart power tool line, came under attack when consumer agencies conducted research and found many consumers who purchased the power tools were experiencing significant harm and personal injury after use. Stirling Bridge (STIRLING BRIDGE) had identified potential safety concerns with their power tools and hired an independent research company to investigate why consumers were being injured using their power tools, well before the company came under the attack of public agencies.
Damages in the United States include two categories. Compensatory damages are intended to compensate for the plaintiff’s loss. Punitive damages, on the contrary, are meant to punish the defendant .The punitive damages exceed the plaintiff’s loss, to dissuade the defendant from any further wrongdoings. For instance, having a company pay significant punitive damages may encourage it to greater caution. Another difference between the two categories is the money involved. If the damages are compensatory, the money usually goes entirely to the plaintiff, but if they are punitive, part of the money goes to the law firm and part to the plaintiff.
Ron Engineering & Construction Eastern Ltd. v. The Queen in Right of Ontario et al. 24 O.R. (2d) 332,
In some instances, the pharmaceutical industry in the United States misleads both the public and medical professionals by participating in acts of both deceptive marketing practices and bribery, and therefore does not act within the best interests of the consumers. In America today, many people are in need of medical help. In fact,the Federal Trade Commission estimates that 75% of the population complain of physical problems (Federal Trade Commission 9). They complain, for example, of fatigue, colds, headaches, and countless other "ailments." When these symptoms strike, 65% purchase over-the-counter, or OTC, drugs.
The movie “A Civil Action” released on January 8, 1999 provides viewers with an extraordinary story of the nightmare that occurred in Woburn Massachusetts in the late 1970’s. The people of this small town at the time had no idea what was going on until there were various cases of Leukemia in small children that ultimately resulted in the early passing of them. The people eventually had gone to find out that the drinking water in this small town was contaminated and there were many women that stepped in to get answers. This movie is a tremendously jaw dropping, eye opening account of a heartbreaking true story incident. There are various elements of negligence in this movie including, duty, legal cause, proximate cause and damages.
deaths, injuries and property damage from consumer product incidents cost the nation more than $1 trillion annually. As the world’s largest retailer, in 2015 Walmart worked to positively improve the numbers through a robust product compliance program. The
Wrongful convictions in Canada is a very sensitive and disturbing topic that has created concerns as to why individuals are being wrongfully convicted. As people in Canada read about cases involving wrongful conviction, such as Guy Paul Morin, Rubin Carter and David Millguard, it often undermines their faith in the criminal justice system. Tunnel vision, the use of questionable DNA evidence, and eyewitness misidentification are the three main causes of wrongful convictions in Canada. Recognizing and addressing these concerns has led to a reduction in cases of wrongful convictions in Canada.
Tort, one of the crucial subjects of study when analyzing common law jurisdictions. Tort, is an action which causes another person or party to suffer harm or loss []. The person who has committed a tortious act is called the tortfeasor while the person who suffered harm or loss from such act is called the injured party or the victim. Although crimes may be torts, torts may not be crimes [] simply because a tort may not have broken a law. In fact, one must understand that the key idea of tort is not to punish the tortfeasor(s) but rather to compensate the victim(s).
Accidents are an inevitable part of life. Children learn this at an early age by bumping their head, scraping their knees, or falling off the swings. They learn that sometimes painful experiences just happen, seemingly without cause or reason. These children carry these lessons into adulthood, and then project their tolerance for accidents onto their families and occupation. The chemical industry, while one of the safest industries, has the potential for catastrophic accidents. Through experience and renewed focus on the conservation of life, the chemical industry has improved its safety considerably. In 2005, chemical industry fatality rate (the number of fatalities per year per total number of people in the applicable population) was the third lowest when compared to industries such as agriculture, coal mining, and construction1. However, accidents still occur, sometimes with regrettable repercussions. In 2005, Formosa Plastics Corporation in Point Comfort, Texas experienced an accident with severe consequences.
and remedies applied by courts of law in civil proceedings giving the plaintiff or claimant relief
Hence, caps take away the power of judges and juries, who hear the evidence for a given situation, to choose payment regarding each individual situation. Rather, it puts these choices in the hands of lawmakers, forsaking this nation's history of individualized justice for all. A cap is typically characterized by a dollar figure. Caps are only used after an individual or a company has been found liable for their harmful actions. They don't have anything to do with "frivolous" claims. They apply regardless of how much legitimacy a case has, or the degree of
The primary cause is of airplane accidents does at some stage contain an element of a person being unable to discharge his duties correctly and in an accurate manner. More than 53% accidents are the result of ignorance or faults by the pilot during flight. Other staff is responsible for about 8% accidents. The most obvious errors by pilot are made during the take off or landing on the runway. Additionally errors can occur during the maintenance of the airplane outside the plane, whereby a lack of thorough inspection and oversight can lead to complication during mid-flight. Fueling and loading of the plane also sometimes create problems (Shapiro, 2001).
Accidents occur in the workplace but in secret. These most of the time lead to physical and mental injuries that might affect the worker way of living for the rest of their lives. It is estimated that more than 337 million workers get injured in their place of work or in the course of work every year leading to work-related diseases causing about 2.3 million deaths per year (United States Department of Labor, n.d.).
- Unsafe products can be banned ( product faulty and can not be sold again) or recalled (all stock taken back repaired and then put on the shelves)
A hazard is a potential damage, adverse health or harm that may effects something or someone at any conditions. Other than that, the risk may be high or low, that somebody could be harmed depending on the hazards. Risk assessment is a practice that helps to improve higher quality of the develop process and manufacturing process. It is also a step to examine the failure modes of the product in order to achieve higher standard of safety and product reliability. Unfortunately, it is common that a product safety risk assessments are not undertaken, or not carried out effectively by manufacturer. Mostly an unsafe and unreliable product was produced and launched on to the market. Thus, the safety problems are mostly identified after an accident happened or after manufacturing problems arisen. In order to prevent risk, a person should take enough precautions or should do more to prevent them because as a user should be protected from harm that usually caused by a failure for whom did not take reasonable control measures.