On November 14th the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador Trial Division held that the pleadings in a privacy breach class action disclose a reasonable cause of action.
Even for an application of the Hunt v Carey standard, the Court did not probe at the pleadings with any significant force. It:
- held that an alleged failure to establish safeguards was enough to found a “willful violation” claim;
- held that a question about whether Newfoundland’s statutory privacy tort could operate together with the common law vicarious liability doctrine should be determined at trial;
- held that the availability of the common law intrusion upon seclusion tort in Newfoundland should be determined at trial;
- allowed a negligence claim for distress and humiliation to proceed even though no specific psychiatric illness or prolonged psychological injury was pleaded because “the threshold of compensable harm will depend on the evidence at trial”; and
- held that the availability of contract claim for non-economic loss should be determined at trial.
The Court struck claims for breach of statute, breach of the Charter and breach of fiduciary duty. The Court remains seized of the certification application.
Hynes v Western Regional Integrated Health Authority, 2014 CanLII 67125 (NL SCTD).
All About Information 