Canada’s top court has ruled that business customers of Telus Corp. cannot take part in a class-action lawsuit over cellphone billing and must instead arbitrate their claims against the company, a decision that comes amid growing concern about the use of mandatory arbitration clauses.
But critics, including the four Supreme Court justices who signed a dissenting opinion, question the idea that business customers in a case such as this - involving a non-negotiable, standard-form agreement - willingly agree to arbitrate any disputes. Joel Rochon, a lawyer who acted for the class-action plaintiffs, said the majority took a narrow approach focused on the strict interpretation of the applicable legislation, rather than taking the larger context into account.
The proposed class action involves two million Ontario residents who entered into per-minute billing plans with Telus between August, 2006, and July, 2010. About 1.4 million of the class members are individuals who purchased plans for personal use, while about 600,000 are customers who purchased plans for business use. The lawsuit claimed $500-million in damages and $20-million in punitive damages on behalf of the class of plaintiffs.