The Superior Court of Quebec on Tuesday ratified the $200 million settlement agreement between Desjardins Group and the initiators of the class actions brought after the massive leak of personal information of millions of its members in 2019.
Posted at 6:19 p.m.
“It is appropriate to approve this settlement agreement which proves to be fair, reasonable and in the interest of the members”, can we read in the decision of Judge Claude Bouchard.
The conclusion of an agreement was announced in December. It provides for financial compensation up to a maximum of 200 million, which is divided into two parts.
First, a maximum sum of 168 million is provided for in compensation for “the loss of time caused by the leak of personal information”. These allowances will be calculated at the rate of $18 per hour up to an individual maximum of five hours or $90 in total.
Second, a maximum sum of $32 million is provided for in compensation in the form of a lump sum of $1,000 that will be paid to victims of identity theft as a result of the leak of their personal information at Desjardins.
Finally, the “Desjardins Settlement” includes the extension for at least five years, at Desjardins’ expense, of the personal credit file monitoring and protection measures provided by the firm Equifax.
“Class action members have no action to take at this time,” Desjardins says on its class action website. The claims period will be “gradually initiated” as of July 21, 2022. Notices to members and customers are provided by AccèsD, by mail, and through newspaper advertisements.