Proposed Class Action Misses Its "Target" In Québec

On March 23, 2015, the Superior Court of Québec (per Justice Pinsonnault) granted a motion by Defendant Target Corp. to dismiss a proposed class action related to the 2013 data breach that affected millions of customers in the U.S. and allegedly many hundred thousand in Canada, on the grounds that the Courts of Québec lacked jurisdiction over the Defendant Target Corp. and, therefore, over the claim.

The Court's finding that Québec did not have jurisdiction over Target Corp. was based essentially of the following key elements:

•  The Plaintiff admitted that the breach only occurred in the US and only affected persons having shopped there (which did include Canadians and Québécois);