Focus On Fairness In The Face Of Pre-Certification Disclosure Requests

In Cirillo v. Ontario, Justice Morgan of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice focused on fairness in dismissing the motion of defendant's counsel for disclosure of the representative plaintiff's financial and medical information, and production from the plaintiff's expert of handwritten notes and draft publications listed in her CV.

The underlying class action was brought on behalf of all persons in Ontario who, since January 2000, were arrested and detained for more than 24 hours prior to a bail hearing being available. The motion followed cross-examination on the affidavits filed by the plaintiff in support of the upcoming certification motion in the class action.

The Court held that the financial status of the representative plaintiff was irrelevant to whether a class action was the preferable procedure, noting that "a wealthy person and a poor person have the same rights" and that the information already provided – the plaintiff's annual income and amount