Smith v. Inco Ltd. [2010] ONSC 3790 was a class-action lawsuit in Canada. The defendant, Inco Ltd. (also known as Vale Canada Limited), was sued by plaintiff Ellen Smith for damages relating to high nickel concentrations in the soil in Port Colborne, Canada. The contamination came from an Inco Ltd. refinery that was in commission between 1918-1984 . [1]
This class action lawsuit initially started in 2002, but did not go to trial until 2010. The plaintiff's counsel initially brought up health concerns related to nickel concentrations that had seeped into the soil of homeowners in Port Colborne. However, a lack of evidence shifted this case to be limited to a claim that nickel concentrations reduced the value of 7,000 homes near the refinery.
The plaintiffs, (i.e. approximately 7,000 homeowners in Port Colborne) were awarded $36 million dollars due to the refinery emitting nickel oxide particulates into the air, which had fallen into their yards. [2]
The decision in Smith v. Inco Ltd. [2010] ONSC 3790 was reversed on appeal by Inco Limited. [3]
A class action, also known as a class action lawsuit, class suit, or representative action, is a type of lawsuit where one of the parties is a group of people who are represented collectively by a member of that group. The class action originated in the United States and is still predominantly a U.S. phenomenon, but Canada, as well as several European countries with civil law have made changes in recent years to allow consumer organizations to bring claims on behalf of consumers.
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Port Colborne is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located on Lake Erie, at the southern end of the Welland Canal, in the Niagara Region of Southern Ontario. The original settlement, known as Gravelly Bay, dates from 1832 and was renamed after Sir John Colborne, a British war hero and the Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada at the time of the opening of the (new) southern terminus of the First Welland Canal in 1833.
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The Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act is a statute of the Parliament of Canada that allows insolvent corporations owing their creditors in excess of $5 million to restructure their business and financial affairs.
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Litigation funding, also known as legal financing and third-party litigation funding (TPLF), enables a party to litigate or arbitrate without having to pay for it, whether because they are unable to pay for it or because they do not want to. A third party professional funder can pay some or all of the costs/expenses associated with a dispute in return for a share of the proceeds of the dispute if it is successful. If the litigation is not successful, the funder bears the costs it has agreed to fund.
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