Seidel v. Telus
Class actions in British Columbia and Alberta against Telus alleging that it breached its standard form cellular telephone contract by charging the recipient of a call for connection (call set-up) time before the call is answered (it is alleged that Telus agreed to charge for “talking time” only). Recent standard form contracts such as the Telus agreement contain a clause requiring that the consumer not participate in class actions and have any dispute dealt with in a private arbitration. Lemer and Company appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada, which ruled that such an agreement cannot stop an action pursuant to the Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act. The certification decision was released by the B.C. Supreme Court in January, 2016 It allows the action to proceed as a class – as opposed to an individual – action and is an important milestone in this action