On March 27, 2011 Justice Perell of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice granted a consent motion in Sorenson v. easyhome Ltd. for certification of the action as a class action and leave to advance a claim against easyhome Ltd. and its CEO and President, its Senior Vice President, and its Chief Financial Officer (as they were during the relevant period). The motion also included the consent dismissal of a parallel action against certain other defendants.
The action is in respect of a material fraud in easyhome Ltd.'s related loan business that required a restatement of certain of its financial results. The consent motion is a result of an agreement negotiated by the parties after the motion for leave to commence the secondary market claim was served. The Defendants have reserved their rights with respect to limitation period defences, notwithstanding certification of the Class Period as April 8, 2008 to October 14, 2010. The common issues include whether some or all of the named disclosure documents of easyhome Ltd. contained a misrepresentation and if so, whether any of the Defendants are liable to any Class Members pursuant to Section 138.3 of the Ontario Securities Act (OSA) or the analogous provisions of the securities legislation of the other Canadian jurisdictions. If the answer to that question is yes, a subsequent common issue includes what damages are payable by each such Defendant in respect of that liability pursuant to s. 138.5 of the OSA. The final common issue includes whether the Defendants should pay the cost of administering and distributing the recovery and if so, which Defendants should pay, and how much.
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