The Superior Court approved a $ 200 million out-of-court settlement reached in a class action filed after the massive data theft the institution suffered in 2019.
An extensive compensation operation will be deployed over the next few months with the 9.7 million members of the Desjardins caisse.
According to the Superior Court ruling, the process will begin on July 21.
As one of the attorneys who filed the class action recently explained to us, an explanatory notice will be sent to members, first through Accès D, then in writing and then in newspapers within 13 weeks, to avoid if possible the clogging of the complaints system.
At the end of 13 weeks, members will have six months to claim the amount associated with the loss of time, and payment will be made at the end of six months, specified Me Jérémie Longpré, of the company Kugler Kandestin. For identity theft compensation, members will have up to three years to claim, with an expected payment each year.
The RicePoint company was appointed (New window) as administrator of claims, at the expense of Desjardins.
Complaint forms can be completed online and relevant documents can be uploaded.
The first installments are expected to take place in spring 2023.
Under the terms of the agreement, submitted to Judge Claude Bouchard on May 24, Desjardins members will be able to claim value in the event of lost time associated with the leak of personal information, based on an hourly rate of $ 18 up to a maximum of $ 90, and/or an amount up to $ 1,000 in the event of identity theft.
The judgment specified that a total of 458 members of the Desjardins caisses preferred to exclude themselves from the amicable settlement in order to protect their right to sue Desjardins in case of future trouble.
In June 2019, the management of Desjardins Group announced publicly that it had been the subject of a massive data leak from its members and customers, organized by a malicious employee, who had left the institution.
A credit tracking service has been offered for five years to millions of members at the expense of Desjardins.
$ 8.5 million to attorneys
One of the things that remains controversial is about the amount Desjardins will pay to the lawyers who organized the class action.
The latter asked for $ 20 million, while Desjardins offered $ 4.8 million.
The judge decided on $ 8.5 million, because he believed it was fees fair and reasonable.
Daniel Boily (go to author page)
Source: Radio-Canada
