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Resolving Dilemmas In Canadian Class Actions By Reconsidering Private Law Principles, Stephanie Sugar

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Class actions cases illuminate the theoretical underpinnings of private law in a way that traditional two-party litigation does not. Many class actions deal with plaintiffs who have not suffered a large loss (or a quantifiable monetary loss at all), or the defendant has made profits that are disproportionately greater than the plaintiffs’ compensable loss (if any). Applying orthodox principles of private law and negligence to these cases results in barring plaintiffs from recovery despite their rights being violated and defendants not disgorging profits made from wrongdoing. The solution resolving these dilemmas should not be to create separate law only applicable …