G20 class-action lawsuits against Toronto police over 'kettling' get go-ahead

Two class actions over alleged civil rights abuses and "kettling" during the 2010 G20 summit in Toronto were given the go-ahead by the Ontario Court of Appeal Wednesday.

The class actions involve over 1,000 people. The lawsuit alleges people were arrested in large groups and held in "inhumane conditions" at a detention centre located inside an unused film studio on Eastern Avenue.

Big Business Could Shut Down Class-Action Suits With One Weird Trick

WASHINGTON -- Chances are you've received annoying, unsolicited text messages before. Chances are you've never taken the sender to court over the nuisance.

José Gómez did once, and he went for broke: He aimed to form a class action against the alleged mass texter, hoping to convince a federal court to make it pay dearly for violating federal law.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday heard arguments in Campbell-Ewald Co. v. Gómez -- a quirky, low-profile case that's about much more than undesired text messages. A ruling against Gómez could have wide-reaching implications for class-action lawsuits and access to justice more generally.

Afghanistan War Vets' Class-Action Lawsuit Against Feds Targets Disability Payments

VANCOUVER - A group of Afghanistan war veterans has filed a class-action lawsuit against the federal government, saying the disability payment regime under the New Veterans Charter violates their human rights.

The lawsuit filed in B.C. Supreme Court on Tuesday claims disability payments are decided arbitrarily and aren't enough to support soldiers who have been injured.

"There's no other group of people who can be ordered to put their life on the line for their country," said Don Sorochan, the Vancouver lawyer representing six current and former soldiers named in the suit.

Ontario native class-action suit stays alive

Lawyers acting on behalf of aboriginal children who lost their families and culture during what’s known as the “Sixties Scoop” in Ontario have won the right to keep fighting for their class-action suit.

The multi-million-dollar suit was filed more than three years ago and already appears to mimic the residential schools class-action suit that dragged on in the courts for nine years before aboriginal plaintiffs finally won in 2005.

Marcia Brown, a key plaintiff in this Ontario suit, says she won’t give up. “The law process is slow but we will use this time to get the truth of the Sixties Scoop out to people locally, provincially and internationally,” she said, in a statement to the Star from Kirkland Lake.

Goldman Sachs Faces Mortgage Debt Class-Action Lawsuit Over Misleading Investors

Feb 3 (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Group Inc was ordered by a federal judge to face a securities class-action lawsuit accusing it of misleading investors about a 2006 offering of securities backed by risky mortgage loans from a now-defunct lender.

U.S. District Judge Harold Baer in Manhattan certified a class-action lawsuit by investors in the GSAMP Trust 2006-S2, a $698 million offering of certificates based on a pool of second-lien home mortgages.

The underlying loans were made by New Century Financial Corp, a subprime mortgage specialist that went bankrupt in 2007.

Plaintiffs in the lawsuit said New Century ignored its own underwriting standards and used improper appraisals when making the loans, and Goldman failed to conduct adequate due diligence when it bought the loans and packaged them into securities.

Baer's decision is dated Feb. 2. (Reporting By Jonathan Stempel; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)

Original Article
Source: Huff 
Author: Reuters 

Class-action suit claims province excluded at least 10 Algonquin groups

At least 10 different Algonquin groups are now contesting ownership of the 36,000 square kilometres of Eastern Ontario that’s the subject of a historic aboriginal land claim, further complicating already complex negotiations with the government.

The latest twist in the long-running land claim saga is notice of a class-action lawsuit against the Ontario government filed by lawyers representing the off-reserve Ottawa Algonquin First Nation, the Algonquins of Kinouchipirini (Pembroke) and Metis of Ontario. These three groups and many others are challenging the legality of the land claim by the Golden Lake Algonquin, known as the Pikwakanagan, saying the provincial government is excluding them from negotiations over land that also belongs to them. The impending lawsuit also includes several individual aboriginals who say Ontario is interfering with their hunting and fishing rights, and want relief from the courts.

It is the latest blow to the negotiations that have been going on for 20 years between federal, provincial and the Golden Lake Algonquin over a vast swath of Eastern Ontario that includes the nation’s capital. Six Quebec Algonquin communities led by the Kitigan Zibi of Maniwaki, who also claim the territory in question as part of their ancestral land, recently threatened a court challenge, saying they are being cut out of the negotiations. Two separate Quebec Algonquin communities are also opposed to the negotiations. Further muddying negotiations that the parties involved believed would serve as a template for other settlements, several non-status Algonquins and Métis, who also claim a stake in the land, are opposed to the negotiations and considering their options.

Ottawa lawyer Michael Swinwood, who filed notice of the lawsuit in November, told the Citizen that the law requires Ontario to be given a 60-day notice of any action, and proceedings will likely begin in March.

Farmers launch wheat board class action

$15.4 billion in damages sought as compensation for end of farmers' control

A class action lawsuit was launched in Saskatoon Monday seeking $15.4 billion in damages resulting from changes made by the Harper government to the Canadian Wheat Board.

Plaintiff Duane Filson, a farmer, teacher and municipal politician from Woodrow, Sask., represents a class that could include any Prairie grain farmer who sold wheat or barley to the Canadian Wheat Board in 2011 or 2012.

Filson ran for the federal Liberals in the 2011 general election in the riding of Cypress Hills-Grasslands, losing to the current parliamentary secretary responsible for the Canadian Wheat Board, Conservative David Anderson.

Merchant Law Group LLP launched the suit on farmers' behalf. Class action lawsuits must be certified by a judge before they can proceed, and the claims in the suit have not been proven in court.

The first court date to consider the certification of the class is expected in about two months.