A Prince George businessman is pursuing a class-action lawsuit against Yellow Pages Ltd., claiming the company failed to distribute copies of its directory in the city.
In a notice of claim filed at the Prince George courthouse, David Payne alleges that contrary to a "fundamental express term of the contract," the company failed to distribute a printed directory in 2017 and 2018 while to date no 2019 directories have been distributed.
Yellow Pages had started soliciting local businesses in late 2016, and at about that time began taking monthly payments from Payne.
"Until distribution of the annual print directory occurs, the advertising purchased from Yellow Pages by local businesses and business persons will not occur or will be significantly reduced, therefore frustrating the purpose of the contractual relationship between Yellow Pages and its business customers," lawyer Jon Duncan says in the claim filed March 22.
According to the claim, Payne knows of at least two other people within Prince George who bought advertising from the company.
A judge must certify the claim in order to make it a class-action lawsuit. Certification does not determine the merits of the case. Rather, it is a procedural step used to determine if the case is appropriate to be dealt with as a class-action proceeding.
"The process is to get a case management judge appointed, then apply for certification," Duncan said Tuesday. "If certification occurs, then people in the class will be given notice of the action and their rights to opt in or out."
Yellow Pages did not reply Tuesday to a request for comment and the allegation has not been tested in court.
