"We are overwhelmed by the response," George Iny, president of the Automobile Protection Association (APA), one of the plaintiffs, told the news agency.
A Quebec Superior Court judge authorized on November 30 the class-action suit against an alleged gasoline cartel formed of 12 oil companies and 19 [image-nocss] individuals.
The targeted companies include Ultramar, Esso, Imperial, Shell, Couche-Tard, Provigo, Irving, Olco and La Coop Federee, which operates Sonic stations.
Justice Dominique Belanger excluded three individuals and three companies from the lawsuit due to a lack of evidence. The plaintiffs are seeking $7.5 million in damages$1,500 for each motorist and $250,000 for the APA to be spent on protecting drivers' rights.
The class action was filed a day after a Competition Bureau of Canada investigation revealed in June 2008 that gas station owners in four Quebec cities called one another to set the pump price; 13 Quebecers and 11 companies were charged with gasoline price fixing in Victoriaville, Thetford Mines, Magog and Sherbrooke.
The class action is broader because it targets most of the retailers involved in the alleged scheme and more individuals based on the wiretap evidence gathered by the Competition Bureau.
Judge Belanger ruled in her decision all people or companies with 50 or fewer employees who have bought gasoline between Jan. 1, 2002, and June 30, 2006, in either one of the four markets are eligible for the class action.
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