HOW DOES A CLASS PROCEEDING WORK?
The following simple example will illustrate the effect of a class proceeding claim and how it works. Consider the situation of a dispute between a customer and a company which provides services to this particular customer and 10,000 other people pursuant to a standard form agreement. Suppose each customer pays the company $1,000.00 per year. Suppose further that a particular customer has discovered that the company interprets the standard form agreement in such a way that he/she has paid $100.00 more per year then he/she should have. Without class proceeding legislation, the recourse of that customer consists of a complaint to the company and perhaps an action in small claims court for recovery of the $100.00 overpaid. Under a class proceeding claim, the customer can commence a proceeding as a representative plaintiff on behalf of himself/herself and all 10,000 customers who are similarly affected. In such a situation, there is now $1,000,000.00 at stake because all 10,0000 customers
