Tim Hortons offers coffee and doughnut as proposed settlement in class action lawsuit
CTV
Tim Hortons has reached a proposed settlement in multiple class action lawsuits alleging the restaurant's mobile app violated customer privacy, which would see the restaurant offer a free coffee and doughnut to affected users.
Tim Hortons has reached a proposed settlement in multiple class action lawsuits alleging the restaurant's mobile app violated customer privacy, which would see the restaurant offer a free coffee and doughnut to affected users.
The settlement, negotiated with the legal teams involved in the lawsuits, still requires court approval.
The coffee and doughnut chain would also permanently delete any geolocation information it may have collected between April 1, 2019 and Sept. 30, 2020, and direct third-party service providers to do the same.
"We think that it's a favourable settlement because it offers compensation that has a real value," said Joey Zukran, a lawyer with the Montreal-based law firm LPC Avocat Inc., which filed the class action in Quebec.
"Privacy cases across Canada are never guaranteed a win," he said. "Here we have some form of guarantee, some form of recovery ... as opposed to uncertainty that could last."
It's unclear how many customers used the app during the 18-month period ending Sept. 30, 2020, and would be eligible to receive a free hot beverage and baked good.
Restaurant Brands International Inc., the parent company of Tim Hortons, said in an investor presentation in May that it had four million active users during the three months ended March 31, 2022.
