A Culture Shift? Pre-Certification Summary Trial In Product Liability Case

On June 20, 2014, the BC Supreme Court released a decision in Player v. Janssen-Ortho Inc.,¹ a proposed product liability class action involving transdermal fentanyl patches. The Court dismissed the action against two of the five defendants in a summary trial prior to certification.

The case is significant in three ways:

1. Scope of inquiry:  The Court held that while in other provinces pre-certification class proceedings are treated as "any old [individual] action", in BC, proposed class actions are treated as "action[s] with ambition". In this context, the Court concluded that evidence relating to the proposed class—and not just the individual plaintiff—could be considered on a pre-certification summary trial application, despite that any judgment would bind only the plaintiff.