In Perez-Nana v Cargill Limited, 2022 ABQB 283, the
Alberta Court of Queen's Bench considered a sequencing
application. Guided by efficiency and fairness, the Court refused
to hear the motion to strike the claim or portions thereof prior to
the certification application, and ordered the applications be
heard concurrently. The Court held that where it is unclear whether
an applicant will be fully successful in its application to strike,
the potential efficiencies of hearing the pre-certification motion
to strike are outweighed by risks that the court process will be
repeated at a certification hearing.
Background
The proposed class was comprised of a group of individuals who
contracted COVID-19 in the spring of 2020, allegedly as a result of
their contact with workers from the Cargill Limited facility in
High River, Alberta. They alleged that Cargill was negligent in its
handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in the plant, resulting in the
plaintiffs' COVID-19 infections
