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News •

Class-action litigator Margaret Waddell leaves law firm she co-founded for role at Sotos LLP • Dec. 19, 2024, 11:50 PM ET (Globe and Mail)
Class-action lawsuit for children abused by military priest certified by Alberta court • Dec. 6, 2024, 5:30 AM ET (CBC)

class action, in law, an action in which a representative plaintiff sues or a representative defendant is sued on behalf of a class of plaintiffs or defendants who have the same interests in the litigation as their representative and whose rights or liabilities can be better determined as a group than in a series of individual suits. Class-action suits that have received national attention in the United States include a suit brought against manufacturers of Agent Orange by veterans exposed to the herbicide during the Vietnam War (settled in 1984), a suit concerning the effects of passive smoking (inhaling secondhand smoke) brought against tobacco firms (settled in 1997), and a suit brought by some 1.5 million female employees of Wal-Mart alleging sex discrimination by the discount department store chain (dismissed in 2011).

This article was most recently revised and updated by Brian Duignan.