St. John's lawyer Bob Buckingham is joining a consortium of three law firms from across the country in a national class-action lawsuit against the Attorney General of Canada.
The basis of the legal action is the breach of privacy of more than half a million people in the recent loss of Canada Student Loan borrower information by Human Resources and Skills Development Canada.
On Jan. 11, the federal government announced that personal and financial information of about 583,000 student loan borrowers was lost.
Human Resources and Skills Development Canada said an external hard drive containing data on Canada Student Loans Program borrowers from 2000-2006 was lost from an office in Gatineau, Que.
On Jan. 17, Buckingham Law filed a national class action. Sutts, Strosberg LLP, Falconer Charney LLP and Branch MacMaster LLP subsequently initiated legal proceedings.
“Our consortium brings a tremendous breadth and depth of experience to this national class action,” Buckingham said in a news release today from Windsor, Ont. lawyer Harvey T. Strosberg and Buckingham Law.
“Bob Buckingham Law is pleased to join with some of the most experienced and successful class action lawyers in the country. This consortium will position us to bring this matter to a fair and reasonable resolution for the hundreds of thousands of Canadians affected,” Buckingham said.
“The loss of confidential personal information is a serious issue in the digital age," said Strosberg. "Through this class action, our experienced national legal team will seek to hold the Government of Canada accountable.”
The consortium will be seeking general damages for negligence, breach of privacy and breach of contract, along with damages for actual out-of-pocket expenses, costs and lost time.
I received a letter February 10,2013 from Human Resource stating that my information got lost on a USB Portable. I ask some very important questions, which they weren't able to assured me about my information that was lost. This is very unsettling to me and disturbing to know that my privacy has been breached in such an extend.