Info class action
The Brick
On February 16, 2011, the Superior Court of Québec granted Option Consommateurs the authorization to institute a class action against The Brick Warehouse LP, a retailer of home furnishings, appliances, electronics and mattresses doing business in Quebec as “The Brick”.
Option Consonmmateurs claims that the retailer is misleading its clients through slogans such as “Do not pay for 15 months” and “No down payment, no monthly payment, no interest”. In reality, consumers relying on The Brick’s financing plan have, among other things, to pay an annual membership fee of $35.
According to lawyer Stéphanie Poulin, head of Option Consommateurs’ legal services, “the imposition of these fees is in contradiction with the representations made by The Brick. Those representations are false or misleading.” The class action seeks to obtain the reimbursement, for the benefit of class members, of a sum equivalent to the amounts charged as “an annual membership fee”. It also seeks to obtain the payment, per class member, of an amount of $100 as a reduction of their obligations. Finally, the class action seeks punitive damages in an amount of $5M.
This class action is led by Belleau Lapointe, LLP
Are you part of the class?
You are part of the class in the context of the present case if you correspond to the following:
[Translation] "Any person who bought a good or a service in Québec from The Brick, opted for The Brick’s credit offer “buy now; pay later” and was invoiced an “annual membership fee” or any other similar fee for the period starting on January first, 2008”
If you are part of this class, we invite you to register yourself as one of its members. This way, we will communicate with you whenever there are important developments in this file.
- Motion for authorization to institute a class action (French only)
- Justice Crête’s judgment of February 16, 2011, granting the Motion for Authorization to Institute a Class Action. [French only]
Chronology
February 2011
The class action is authorized.
June 2010
The Superior Court hears the Motion for authorization of a class action. The matter is under advisement.
November 2009
Filing of the Motion for authorization to institute a class action.