25 July 2007
Judge Rejects Class-Action Bid on Rail Accident Lawsuit
A judge has decided a lawsuit over a 2004 Estevan, Saskatchewan,
rail accident that forced about 150 people out of their homes should not be certified as a class-action suit.
The suit against Canadian Pacific Railway, which is being handled by Regina lawyer Tony Merchant, was launched after six tank cars left
the tracks and three containing caustic anhydrous ammonia overturned in the 8 Aug 2004, accident.
People within a three-block area, including residents of a seniors home, were told to leave. No one was hurt, no chemicals
were spilled, and residents were allowed to return two days later.
The plaintiffs named in the suit included some of the people who say they were inconvenienced by the incident. In court proceedings
last year, Merchant argued each person affected should receive $1,000 to $3,000 in damages.
A class-action suit would allow a number of individuals to join the legal action without each having to hire a lawyer.
However, earlier this month, Queen's Bench Justice Catherine Dawson rejected the application to have the suit declared a class action.
"I have concluded that there is no genuine or authentic cause of action in the amended statement of claim," Dawson wrote in
her 11 Jul 2007 decision. "For this reason alone the action should not be certified as a class action."
In her 116-page decision, Dawson listed several other reasons she was dismissing the application for certification,
including her finding that none of the 10 people suing is an appropriate representative plaintiffs for a class action.
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