Quebec Superior Court Shuts The Door On Serial Class Actions

On March 6, 2013, the Honourable Justice William Fraiberg of the Quebec Superior Court rendered a unique decision limiting class actions in an important way. By their very nature, class actions include groups of individuals (in this case consumers). In the case of United Parcel Service du Canada Ltée ("UPS"), over thirty million transactions are affected by class actions brought against it, and there are thus an unending supply of Plaintiffs over time. If a first class action fails, a new group of consumers for a different time period can easily be found. However, Justice Fraiberg, has put an end to serial class actions which raise the same issues but for differently constituted groups of consumers. He did so by declaring a second class action brought against UPS res judicata or chose jugée.