QBG 789/20 Wasserman et al vs Govt of Sask et al
RHE wins precedent for Humboldt Broncos – Stay of competing claims
We are counsel for the presumptive class action arising out of the Humboldt Broncos bus crash of April 6, 2018. Over the last year we have worked diligently with all the lawyers and individual claimants who have other lawsuits (in Alberta and Saskatchewan) relating to this tragedy, finding common interest and purpose through cooperation. Unfortunately, one group of litigants insisted on proceeding with their lawsuit unilaterally, without regard to efficiency, judicial economy or the risk of inconsistent findings of fact by different judges on the same subject matter. Regrettably, this obliged RHE to apply for a temporary stay of the competing individual claim, and today, with fulsome reasons, the Saskatchewan Queen’s Bench ordered a “stay” (or pause) of the individual claim until after our spring 2022 application for certification of the class action claim.
This decision will prove to be a valuable national precedent in class action litigation in circumstances where there are a multiplicity of individual lawsuits with a competing prospective class action claim, and the gatekeeping role the Court can and should assume in the overall interests of justice.
Read the reasons here.