1. The plaintiffs commenced an action under the Ontario Class Proceedings Act asserting on behalf of purchasers across Canada that certain glass manufacturers conspired to raise, maintain, fix or stabilize the prices of or allocate markets and customers for Construction Flat Glass in Canada during the period July 1, 2002 to December 31, 2006.

2. On June 6, 2011, Mr. Justice Patterson of the Superior Court of Justice for Ontario certified the action as a class proceeding and defined national “Class Members” as:

All persons in Canada who during the period from July 1, 2002 to December 31, 2006 purchased Construction Flat Glass for pick-up or delivery in Canada, except for the Defendants and corporations related to them.

3. The time for Class Members to exclude themselves from the class action expired August 15, 2011.

4. On September 12, 2011 Mr. Justice Patterson approved the settlement reached with AGC Flat Glass North America, Inc. f/k/a AFG Industries Inc., Guardian Industries Corp., Guardian Industries Canada Corp., Industries Cover Inc., Pilkington North America, Inc., Pilkington Glass of Canada Limited, PPG Industries, Inc. and PPG Canada Inc. (the “Defendants”). The Notice of Settlement Approval and Claims Procedure can be viewed here (English) (French).

5.    During the course of Claims Administration, it was discovered that customer information had not been provided by the defendant Industries Cover Inc. and as such a number of Class Members did not receive the direct notice they were entitled to.  On January 30, 2012 the Court approved a second notice program specifically for customers of Industries Cover Inc..  The Industries Cover Inc. notice can be viewed here (English) (French).

6. The settlement provides for the payment of CDN$1.76 million to and on behalf of the Class of persons in Canada who purchased  Construction Flat Glass in the period July 1, 2002 and December 31, 2006 for pickup or delivery in Canada.  The Settlement Agreement can be viewed here or along with other important documents found on the Documents page of this website.

7. At the hearing on September 12, 2011, the Court appointed a Claims Administrator and approved a proposed distribution on the basis that:

(a) the net settlement monies after payment of expenses including counsel fees and administration expenses amounting to $1,133,514 be divided into a “direct purchaser fund” for the benefit of Class Members who are direct purchasers from a Defendant and an “indirect purchaser fund” for the benefit of Class Members who did not make their purchases directly from a Defendant;

(b) the direct purchaser fund amounting to $1,020,162.60 be divided among those direct purchasers who make a claim in the action based on the ratio that each direct purchaser’s total purchases have to the total purchases of all direct purchasers whose claims are accepted in the action, provided their share works out to more than $50;

(c) the indirect purchaser fund amounting to $113,351.40 be distributed cy près to Habitat for Humanity Canada and the Canadian Green Buildling Council, two national not-for-profit organizations, on behalf of those Class Members who did not purchase directly from a Defendant; and

(d) any entitlements from the direct purchaser fund that are not distributed and all monies remaining in the administration expense fund at the completion of the administration be distributed to the two national not-for-profit organization.

8.  Contact information for the Claims Administrator is as follows:
     National Class Action Services
     c/o Flat Glass Class Action
     3230 Yonge Street, Suite 200
     Toronto, ON  M4N 3P6
     Toll free: 1.866.329.7153
     E-mail: info@flatglassclaims.ca

9.  Claims administration commenced on or about October 20, 2011. 

10. The final date by which claims forms were to be submitted to the Claims Administrator for all Class Members except customers of Industries Cover Inc. was January 20, 2012.

11. The final date by which claims forms must be submitted to the Claims Administrator for customers of Industries Cover Inc. is May 7, 2012.

12. Once the Industries Covers Inc. claims deadline has run, the Claims Administrator will move for Court approval of the settlement distribution of the direct purchaser fund.

13.  This is a simple overview of the class action and the settlement. Please read the terms of the Settlement Agreement found on the Documents page of this website carefully as well as review the Frequently Asked Questions (“FAQ") at this website.

14. If you have questions for Class Counsel that are not answered online, please contact Sutts, Strosberg LLP toll-free at 1.800.229.5323, extension 8296 or by email at flatglass@strosbergco.com.  All questions concerning the claims procedure should be directed to the Claims Administrator at the addresses indicated above.