Klein Lawyers in The News
2024
14 November 2024 Proposed class-action alleges abuse, cultural devastation at Indigenous group homes in Canada
Class Actions and Systemic Conduct: What are Material Facts, Summer, 2024
Federal court approves $2B settlement agreement for Indian boarding home survivors, APTN News, May 31, 2024
Judge rejects former Tim Hortons baker's proposed class action, CBC, May 25, 2024
B.C. class action suit approved against HIV/AIDs drugmaker Gilead, Vancouver Sun, March 25, 2024
B.C. LifeLabs customers start to receive settlements but amount may be lower than expected – May 14th, 2024
2023
ATPN National News articls “Deal near for 40,000 survivors of federal Boarding Homes Program – July 21st, 2023
CBC News article “Minister comments on Indian Boarding Homes settlement”
APT News article ‘Agreement-in-principle’ reached in Boarding Home class-action lawsuit with feds
The Lawyers Daily article “Canada strikes agreement-in-principle to resolve Indigenous boarding homes program class action”
2022
Former Kelowna Rocket captain suing CHL for handling of fighting - July 6, 2022
Tim Hortons, hero pay and the long battle against wage suppression in Canada - June 16, 2022
Pressure mounts on B.C. to resolve class-action suit involving thousands of youth in foster care - February 11, 2022
2021
4 former Canadian Hockey League players class-action lawsuit filed in 2019 against the WHL, the Canadian Hockey League, and Hockey Canada. - May 18, 2021
Why are no-poach agreements legal in Canada? Class action alleges Tim Hortons kept workers’ wages low through ‘secret’ clauses - May 1, 2021
CBC Saskatoon’s The Afternoon Edition - Radio interview with Aden Klein and our client, Jennifer Sanderson - February 28, 2021
2020
CTV's Power Play RCMP Responds to Harassment Report - Interview with David Klein on CTV’s Power Play – November 19, 2020
Marge Hudson, a former Indigenous female RCMP officer, has launched a class action lawsuit against the organization for rampant, decades-long systemic racism..
VICE - 17 July - Canada's Mythic RCMP Stuck in the Wrong Century
Marge Hudson, a former Indigenous female RCMP officer, has launched a class action lawsuit against the organization for rampant, decades-long systemic racism..
CTV News - 14 July - Ex-officer suing RCMP says she didn't understand racism until joining force
When Margorie Hudson joined the RCMP in Manitoba in 1979 as one of the first Indigenous women on the force, she said she was shocked by the racist comments she heard from fellow officers.
CTV News - 13 July - Proposed class-action lawsuit led by former constable alleges racism in RCMP
One of the first Indigenous women to join the RCMP in Manitoba is the lead plaintiff in a proposed class-action lawsuit that alleges systemic racism within the force.
Fairchild TV - 13 July - A retired mounted police filed a class action lawsuit accusing the Royal Mounted Police of systematic racial discrimination.
(Chinese video)
Radio Canada - Allégations de racisme à la GRC : une ancienne membre autochtone lance un recours collectif.
Une des premières femmes autochtones à avoir rejoint les rangs de la Gendarmerie royale du Canada (GRC) au Manitoba dit avoir été victime de racisme quand elle était en fonction. Elle est la plaignante principale dans une demande de recours collectif déposée devant la cour fédérale la semaine dernière.
Vancouver Sun - 2 June - David Klein Interviewed on Business Interruption Claims
CHEK News - 28 May - Insurers wrongfully denying businesses pandemic relief
Insurance companies promise they'll have their policy holder's backs when things go terribly wrong. But for some Vancouver Island businesses, the pandemic is proving insurance companies may not be there when they are needed most.
“You do have to be very careful in how you word your claim. You don’t want to trigger wording that will create an exclusion. There are some policies for example, that have ‘virus’ exclusions. You don’t want to put something in your notice letter that talks about viruses in that situation,” David Klein.
2018
RCMP Press - 20 November CBC - RCMP’s sexual harassment suit bigger and more expensive than predicted
David Klein, one of the lead lawyers in the RCMP class-action lawsuit, said the boom in the number of claims is a good thing."We're encouraged that women have felt sufficiently comfortable to come forward and tell their stories," he said "We think the increased numbers sends a message to the RCMP and all employers that this is something that needs to be taken seriously and addressed, that everything that can be done to address sexual harassment in the workplace should be done."
RCMP Press - 24 January The Globe and Mail - Retired RCMP doctor in Nova Scotia accused of ‘numerous’ sexual assaults on female recruits, officers
David Klein of Klein Lawyers in Vancouver, whose firm was one of two that negotiated the class-action settlement, says eight of the hundreds of women who have come to his office asking for help in filing their claim say they were assaulted by a physician at the Bedford clinic who was nicknamed "Dr. Fingers" by recruits.
Mr. Klein said those women say the doctor gave them unnecessary rectal examinations, inserted his fingers into their vaginas for no apparent reason and spent unusually lengthy periods of time rubbing his hands on their breasts. Mr. Klein, who represents more than 600 of the plaintiffs in the class-action suit, says he is unaware of any significant changes that are being made within the RCMP to address the types of behaviours being alleged by his clients.
"I have now read over 300 claims. It is shocking to see what these women endured," Mr. Klein said. "The settlement agreement includes a host of change initiatives the RCMP has agreed to undertake. These are important. For many of my clients, the change initiatives are more important than the compensation.".
While plaintiffs don't need to be represented by a lawyer, the 33-page form that must be completed and the highly traumatic nature of their experiences have prompted more women than expected to seek legal advice in filing their claims, Mr. Klein said. "We're scrambling to get them all," he said. "I have five lawyers, four paralegals and four articling students working full-time, flat out on claims for these women."
Woodlands Press - 31 March Press Release Woodlands’ survivors finally to receive redress from provincial government
“When I began working on this case in 2006, with the now-Minister Adrian Dix, it was clear that the road to justice would be long and difficult,” said David Klein, of Klein Lawyers, who acts for the Woodlands survivors in the class action lawsuit. “But, the morality of the survivors’ claims impelled me to persevere on their behalf. And we did encounter more than a decade of legal, political and financial challenges. We met those challenges and stand here today – a momentous day – to declare an important victory for the Woodlands survivors. We are also able to declare that our new provincial government is taking the correct and compassionate steps to remedy a dark historic wrong. This is a moral victory, not just for the Woodlands survivors, but for all British Columbians.”
2017
RCMP Press - 17 January CBC - RCMP harassment class action could cover up to 20,000 women
David Klein, a lawyer representing Merlo, said if the settlement is approved at an upcoming hearing, it will be applied at six levels of compensation ranging from $10,000 to $220,000, depending on the severity of the harassment. Klein says women can opt out if they don't want to be part of the class action.
There will be a settlement approval hearing likely in May of this year, he said, where women can express their support or objection to the settlement. According to Klein, it doesn't make sense for any of the women to opt out of the case unless they are pursuing their own individual lawsuit.
"This is a good opportunity to receive compensation for the harassment and discrimination they experienced," he said.
Klein said the feedback from women since October has been positive.
"They were pleased to see RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson make a public apology and the [changes] that the RCMP is making to eliminate gender harassment and discrimination in the force," he said.
2016
Zimmer Durom Cup Press - 9 October Vancouver Sun B.C. judge approves class action settlement for hundreds of people who got defective hip implants
“We’re very pleased that the settlement has now been approved by the courts in Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia,” said Vancouver lawyer David Klein.
“This is a national settlement but it required the approval from all three courts. The claims process can now open and within the next few months people who filed claims will start receiving compensation.”
About 1,100 people opted into the class action lawsuit in Ontario and Quebec. Klein said he expects several hundred more claimants will come forward in B.C.
Klein said the Durom Cup was popular for about five years but it was discovered that it was failing at a rate higher than expected, which led to a recall of the device and a halt in sales in November 2009.
2015
RCMP Press - 1 June CTV - RCMP systematically discriminated against women, lawyer says
David Klein told reporters Monday that RCMP misconduct has occurred “over a period of months or years” was committed “by multiple perpetrators” and was “ignored by management on multiple occasions”.
Klein said that women who make it into the RCMP are “strong physically (and) well-balanced emotionally, or else they wouldn’t have made it through.” “They come in strong and they left broken – demoralized, depressed, with broken relationships and shattered careers,” he added.
RCMP Press - 1 June CBC - More women alleging harassment want to join lawsuit against RCMP
David Klein, the lawyer representing the women, said some clients have been left unable to work, with serious psychological injuries. A third of the women are still on the job.
So far, 363 women have officially joined the case with several more waiting for the outcome of this week's hearing, Klein said.
"If you were to focus on these isolated incidents, of practical jokes, inappropriate comments, of sexualized gestures, you might not see the entire picture, but what we have here is a broad, serious, systemic problem," he said.
2014
H.R.T. Hormone Replacement Therapy - 2014 CTV Vancouver Island News – Video
David featured at 00:53 and 01:44.
Woodlands Press - 28 July Vancouver Sun – Woodlands victims wait years for decision on compensation
Lawyers for the former Woodlands residents say the province is fighting every claim tooth and nail.
“Whatever we do to advance a claim, they hit back with twice as much,” said lawyer David Klein. “The money they spend on lawyers and experts would be better spent on paying compensation to the Woodlands victims.”
2013
RCMP Press - 5 June – City News (National) - Lawyer for women Mounties urges RCMP to settle case
David Klein, whose client Janet Merlo filed her lawsuit last year, was in court for a procedural hearing Tuesday, a day after the commissioner of the RCMP complained the force was being targeted by “outlandish claims.” “We’re surprised, we’re very surprised,” Klein said outside court on Tuesday.
“When you take a look at the RCMP’s action plan (for addressing harassment), they clearly say they want to sit down and settle these cases. My clients have said, ‘Yes, absolutely, sit down with us.’ So far, we’ve just gotten a flat-out ‘No.'”
The federal government wants the court to hear its arguments next month, but Klein argued in court the government’s motion to strike portions of Merlo’s lawsuit should be heard at the same time as the class-action certification.
The judge did not rule on either the timing of government’s motion or the certification hearing, or whether they will be held together.
Klein said the federal government should focus on negotiating an end to the case rather than continuing to allow the case to drag on.
“We’ve proposed to them that we sit down with a mediator and talk about solutions,” said Klein.
“So far, they’ve said ‘No’ to sitting down to talk.”
2012
Zimmer Durom Cup Press - 29 January Fast Facts Video Product recalls in medical devices like hip implants
RCMP Press - 28 March Vancouver Sun - Sexist comments, harassment of female Mountie spurs class-action lawsuit
Vancouver lawyer David Klein said his law firm, which filed the lawsuit this morning in B.C. Supreme Court, has been contacted by more than 150 female officers across the country who feel they have suffered mistreatment during their years on the force.
"There is clearly a serious problem in the RCMP," Klein said in an interview. "It has been a toxic environment for women who have served on the force."
In addition to pranks, harassment and bullying by male officers, female officers were subjected to a double standard, Klein said.
The men are tougher on women than they are on other men," he said.
2011
Dermalive Press - 12 August CBC News – Wrinkle treatment targeted in B.C. woman’s lawsuit
“Logan [representative plaintiff] works in an optometry store where she’s dealing with the public and is constantly surrounded by mirrors.” David Klein, one of her lawyers, told CBC News.
“What she says is that Dermalive has taken away her smile.”
H.R.T. Hormone Replacement Therapy - 5 August CBC News – HRT class action case on breast cancer OK’d
However, the lawsuit argues that the 2002 Women's Health Initiative Study by the United States National Institutes of Health concluded there was a connection between hormone therapy and an increase in breast cancer.
After the study, use of the therapy plummeted and so did breast cancer rates, said David Klein, a lawyer representing the women.
Klein noted the company has been sued on similar grounds in the United States, leading to settlements in more than 3,300 cases.
Pfizer recently set aside $772 million to resolve the remaining claims, he noted.
"The drug is the same, no matter which side of the border it is sold on. The harm is the same. It is time for the defendants to also compensate injured Canadian women."
Aboriginal Sixties Scoop Press - 31 May Press Release
Lawyer David Klein, pointed out that “for Sixties' Scoop survivors like Sharon Russell, this is a chance to find justice for the Aboriginal rights and identities that were stolen through government neglect.” Just as residential schools began to close in British Columbia, the federal government continued to employ policies that robbed Aboriginal children of their identity. Mr. Klein continued, “the tragic practice of removing Aboriginal children from their families and communities continues to cause harm to this day.”
Woodlands Press - 18 October Globe and Mail Ex-residents cheer as former B.C. residential school is torn down
David Klein, lawyer for the Woodlands plaintiffs, said many of the residents who lived at the facility before August 1974 are now elderly and need compensation the most. Only eight claims of those eligible have been filed so far, he said. "It really is a human tragedy. It is a shameful position by the government to leave those out of the settlement," Mr. Klein said.
2009
Woodlands Press - 13 May Canada.com Woodlands decision “morally bankrupt”
Lawyer David Klein argued on behalf of the Woodlands survivors and agreed it was a disappointing setback.
"There is no rational basis for distinguishing between victims before 1974 and after 1974," he said. "It's simply an unjust law."
Schiller said he expects Klein will be asked to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court of Canada later this year.
The Court of Appeal decision means that the main suit, for the roughly two-thirds of former residents victimized after Aug. 1 1974, will take a lot of Klein's attention. It is scheduled to start in January 2010 and is expected to last six months.
"This case should have been settled a long time ago," said Klein.
"The conditions at Woodlands were horrendous, and it's a stain on B.C.'s reputation."
Woodlands Press - 15 December Canada.com “Do the right thing” and ignore Woodlands settlement cutoff: Lawyer
DAK Quote: “Premier Gordon Campbell should do the right thing and give an early Christmas present to the 500 survivors of mental, physical and sexual abuse at Woodlands who have been told they are not eligible just because they attended the school before the arbitrary cutoff date of Aug. 1, 1974,” said David Klein, lawyer for the survivors’ group.
