$16M settlement in Canadian air cargo class action approved for distribution

TORONTO — On Mar. 28, Siskinds of London, Ontario, Camp Fiorante Matthews Mogerman of Vancouver, BC and Liebman Légal Inc. of Montreal, Quebec announced court approval of a protocol for the second distribution of settlement funds in the Canadian Air Cargo price-fixing class action. The class action relates to an alleged global conspiracy to fix prices of airfreight shipping services.

Settlements totalling $16 million have been reached with British Airways and Air Canada. This brings total settlements reached in this action to over $45 million. The settled defendants do not admit any wrongdoing or liability. The Ontario, British Columbia and Québec courts approved the settlements and a protocol for distributing the second round of settlement funds.Settlements totalling $29.6 million were previously distributed. The action is now resolved in its entirety.

“This litigation raised complex factual and legal issues. As part of this litigation, the Ontario Court of Appeal held that the Ontario court has jurisdiction to certify an international class. Leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada was denied. This was an importan t ruling that paves the way for other international classes in appropriate circumstances,” said Linda Visser of Siskinds.

“Price-fixing conspiracies result in businesses and consumers paying artificially inflated prices for goods and services. Class actions help to return those inflated prices to victims of such conspiracies,” said David Jones of Camp Fiorante Matthews Mogerman.

Persons who purchased airfreight shipping services to or from Canada (excluding shipments to or from the United States) between January 2000 and September 2006 are eligible to claim settlement benefits. Claims can be filed online at www.aircargosettlement2.com on or before July 4, 2022.