A class action suit that sought compensatory and punitive damages against credit-reporting company Equifax Inc. following a massive global data breach that affected more than 143 million people worldwide, including 19,000 Canadians, was refused certification after Quebec Superior Court held that Quebec law does not recognize compensatory damages for data breaches.
The decision, the latest of a rapidly growing body of Quebec jurisprudence dealing with security breaches, underlines that being the victim of a data breach is insufficient to claim damages even though there is prime facie evidence that a fault occurred, according to class action lawyers.