Bank of Montreal Ordered to Pay Nominal Damages for Privacy Breach

In Albayate v Bank of Montreal, 2015 BCSC 695, the plaintiff, Ms Albayate, sued the Bank of Montreal (bank) for breach of privacy and breach of contract. Ms Albayate alleged that she suffered damages as a result of the bank changing her address in its computer system without her knowledge and consent. As a result of the change, bank statements intended for Ms Albayate were sent to her ex-husband and the bank provided two credit bureaus with inaccurate information about her address.

The British Colombia Supreme Court (Court) found that the bank breached Ms Albayate’s privacy because it provided inaccurate information to two credit bureaus and failed to correct the information in a timely manner. The bank provided the incorrect addresses in November 2009, but did not correct the inaccurate statements until May 2013.

However, the bank was not found liable for breach of privacy for sending the bank statements to Ms Albayate’s ex-husband. Ms Albayate claimed that her ex-husband opened the bank statements and used the information to harass her. However, the Court did not accept Ms Albayate’s evidence, but rather accepted her ex-husband’s evidence that he returned the envelopes containing the bank statements to Ms Albayate unopened. As a result, there was no unauthorized disclosure.

The Court also found the bank liable for breach of contract because the bank breached its privacy policy which formed part of its contract with Ms Albayate.

Ms Alabayate claimed damages and costs of approximately $600,000. However, Ms Albayate was only awarded nominal damages of $2,000 as the Court determined that she did not establish that any actual damages resulted from the bank’s conduct.