Class Members, No Rights To Appeal Settlement Approval

On October 17, 2019 the Court of Appeal of Ontario released its decision in Bancroft-Snell v. Visa Canada Corporation, 2019 ONCA 822. The Court of Appeal's unanimous five-judge panel decision confirmed individual class members have no right to appeal settlement approval orders even where they appear and object to the issuance of the settlement approval order.

Overview

In 2011 Jonathan Bancroft-Snell and his company brought a class action against the defendant credit card companies and banks, alleging conspiracy to fix, maintain, or increase or control Merchant Discount Fees, including Interchange Fees, paid by merchants who accepted payment by Visa or MasterCard, in Canada. The class action was certified.

At a settlement approval hearing before Justice Perell, two class members, Wal-Mart and Home Depot (the "Responding Parties"), who had failed to opt-out at an earlier settlement hearing, objected to the partial settlement. Justice Perell did not give effect to the Responding Parties' objections and issued an order approving the...