The Place 0-5 Data Breach Class Action

Date of Initial Application: May 14, 2021

La Place 0-5 Data Breach Class Action Pre-Approval Notice of Settlement Approval Hearing

Detailed information, the Long Form (detailed) version of this notice, and updates are available on the Settlement Website at the following address: www.place0-5settlement.ca

PROCEEDINGS

A proposed Settlement has been reached in a putative class action Dubé c. Coopérative de services enfancefamille.org and Procureur general du Québec (500-06-001148-218) relating to the La Place 0-5 data breach that occurred on May 8, 2021, when an unknown third-party was able to gain unauthorized access to certain customer data from the La Place 0-5 records (“Data Breach”). This proposed Settlement is subject to Court approval.

The proposed settlement is on behalf of the following Settlement Class:

The 8,589 persons in Québec whose personal information was accessed and downloaded during the Data Breach which occurred on May 8, 2021;

The Defendants in the class action are the Coopérative de services enfancefamille.org (hereinafter the “Coopérative”) and the Procureur général du Québec (hereinafter the “PGQ”) (hereinafter collectively the “Defendants”).
On February 1, 2024, the Superior Court of Quebec authorized the Class Action for settlement purposes only.

AM I A SETTLEMENT CLASS MEMBER?

You may be a Settlement Class Member if you are one of the 8,589 persons in Québec, whose personal information was accessed and downloaded in the Data Breach which occurred on or about May 8, 2021 (you may have received a letter, email or call from La Place 0-5 advising you that your information was compromised in the context of the Data Breach).

WHAT DOES THIS SETTLEMENT PROVIDE?

Pursuant to the proposed Settlement, the Defendants will pay a total amount of $250,000 CAD (the “Cap”). This Cap will pay for all administration costs, notice costs and legal fees and disbursements, including all applicable taxes. The remainder (the “Net Cap”) will be used toward the reimbursement of certain substantiated costs, losses and/or unreimbursed expenses made from May 8, 2021 to February 1, 2024 by Settlement Class Members who provide evidence to the effect that said losses were caused by the Data Breach and/or incurred as a result of the Data Breach or the receipt of the La Place 0-5 Notices (between May 14, 2021 and June 2, 2021), as accepted by the Claims Administrator (at its discretion) pursuant to the Distribution Protocol attached to the Settlement Agreement. Each Claimant may only make substantiated and documented monetary claims up to a maximum of $1,000 CAD per person (the Documentary Supported Claims will be reduced on a pro rata basis in case of lack of total funds in the Net Cap).

HOW WILL THE LAWYERS BE PAID?

As part of the settlement of this case, the defendants have agreed to pay class counsel fees in the amount of up to $75,000, plus applicable taxes, for their fees and $2,500 for their disbursements, subject to the Court’s approval. This amount is payable out of the Cap.

YOU ARE NOT REQUIRED TO PAY ANY PORTION OF THESE ATTORNEYS’ FEES AND DISBURSEMENTS UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.

WHAT ARE MY OPTIONS?

If you are a Settlement Class Member, you may (1) object to or comment on the Settlement; (2) exclude yourself from the Class Action (opt-out); or (3) do nothing. If you do not wish to be legally bound by the Class Action, you must exclude yourself from the Class Action (opt-out). To do so, you must complete and submit an Opt-Out Form to the Court by no later March 15, 2024. Anyone who opts out of the Class Action cannot object to or comment on the Settlement and may be eligible to pursue an individual claim. If you do nothing, you will stay in the Class Action and be bound by the Settlement, if approved by the Court.
If you stay in the Class Action, you may object to or comment on the Settlement by submitting a written objection to the Court by no later than February 28, 2024. You have no obligation to object to or comment on the Settlement.

WHEN AND WHERE WILL THE COURT DECIDE IF THE SETTLEMENT IS APPROVED?

The Superior Court of Quebec must be satisfied that the Settlement is fair, reasonable and in the best interests of Settlement Class Members.

The Settlement Approval Hearing will take place on March 19, 2024, at 9:30 A.M. in room 12.61 at the Montreal Courthouse located at 1 Notre-Dame St. East, Montreal, Quebec (or any other courtroom determined by the Court).

You do not have to attend the hearing but you may do so if you wish.

If you have submitted a written objection to the Court, you (or your lawyer) may present arguments with regards to the proposed Settlement.

You do not have to do anything and you do not have to pay anything at all in order to participate in the Class Action and/or the proposed Settlement.

You will not be asked to pay anything at any time.

HOW CAN I GET MORE INFORMATION?

If needed, Settlement Class Members can contact the Class Counsel, Lex Group Inc., on the present website.

WHO REPRESENTS THE PARTIES?

Settlement Class Members
LEX GROUP INC.
c/o Mtre David Assor
4101 Sherbrooke Street West
Westmount, Québec, H3Z 1A7
www.lexgroup.ca

This Notice has been approved by the Superior Court of Quebec.

__________________________________________________________

Lex Group Inc. has launched a class action against the Coopérative de services enfancefamille.org, who also operates under the names La Place 0-5 and The Place 0-5, and against the Government of Quebec (the Procureur général du Québec – Ministère de la famille), regarding the May 8, 2021
Data Breach which involved the theft of personal information belonging to an estimated 86,948 La Place 0-5 users.  Certain affected persons may have received an email from The Place 0-5 on May 13, 2021.

The Place 0-5 is the organization mandated by the Government of Quebec to manage the only public gateway service to recognized Quebec daycares.

The stolen personal information includes, without limitation, The Place 0-5 user name, the child’s name, the email address, the postal address, the telephone number, the date of birth, the NIREC (the registration number on the birth certificate and with the Directeur de l’état civil) and the registration number. The stolen information concerned the parents of the registered children and possibly the personal information of the children themselves, such as their date of birth and their NIREC.

Accordingly, if you received an email from La Place 0-5 on May 13, 2021 or if you provided your personal information to The Place 0-5, your personal information may have been stolen or compromised in the May 8, 2021 Data Breach and you may be part of the proposed Class defined by the class action initiated by our office.

Should you be defined as a member of the class in this class action, you may be entitled to compensation should the Court authorize and grant the class action on the merits, or should a settlement be reached (and approved by the Court).

If you wish to be kept informed and/or receive notification of major judgments rendered or notices in this case, please complete the form below.  Please note that providing your information in the form below creates no financial obligation for you and it does not create a lawyer/client relationship between yourself and Lex Group Inc. (or any of its attorneys).  You will not be charged any fees or costs for signing up to this class action since our firm is only paid on a contingency basis from the potential compensation recovered in this file, if the class action is successful by way of final judgment or settlement approved by the Court.

Please be advised that the group definition of the people to be included in this class action may be changed or modified in the future by Court decision or by way of amendment filed by our firm.  We will not inform you or other members of the public if and when the group definition is changed.  It is therefore your sole responsibility to ensure that your own personal rights and recourses are being protected at all times during the course of these proceedings.  You may therefore wish to seek independent legal counsel in order to determine whether it would be in your best interest to pursue independent litigation in this matter (or any other matter), and to determine if you can potentially be included in this case if a final judgment is rendered or if a settlement is reached and approved by the Court.

By signing up to this class action, you are merely asking our firm to include you in our list of potential members in this class action, but our firm is not agreeing to represent your personal interests.  If a final judgment is rendered in this case, or if a settlement is reached (and approved by the Court), an e-mail may be sent to you and the relevant information may be posted on this website.  The Court will determine the manner and extent of any future notifications to class members.

Be advised that the information you provide will be included in our list of potential class members for this case, which list may be shared with and disclosed to the Courts and/or other parties in this action (at our discretion).  Rest assured that any such disclosure will be done in such a manner as to protect your personal information and confidentiality from unauthorized use, disclosure or publication.

Finally, be advised that the above-description and summary of the case is being posted on this website for your convenience.  However, in case of conflict between the information on this website and the actual proceedings, documents, and/or judgments in the Court record of this case, the official Court record documents will prevail.  We have for your convenience posted on this webpage certain scanned copies of the several relevant documents from the Court record, including the initial application for authorization to institute a class action which describes the case in much more detail.  You should therefore consult these documents as well as consult this website periodically in order to be kept informed.