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6/16/2008: Status of Class Action suit against Lotto-Quebec
Gambling with Science - Salon
Jean Brochu was a respectable attorney in Quebec with a wife and two kids. That was before he first punched the button on a video slot machine in 2000. Within 15 months, Brochu says he was losing $500 a day to the machines. He plunged headlong into debt, and lost his car and his house. He stole $50,000 from his union, and was consequently disbarred for three months. He claims that in several dark moments he contemplated suicide. He also says it was all the fault of those slot machines.
Now Brochu is the lead plaintiff in a massive class action lawsuit against Loto-Quebec, the government agency that runs all forms of gambling in the province. Brochu’s lawyer, Roger Garneau, says he filed the suit on behalf of the estimated 119,000 gambling addicts in Quebec province. Garneau says the slot machines dragged these citizens into addiction. “They have been conceived and constructed for trapping the mind,” he says. The suit asks for almost $700 million in damages.
…On the other side, lawyers for Loto-Quebec will base their argument on what also might seem a far-fetched notion: Casinos and slot machines aren’t the culprits — genetics and brain chemistry are. In essence, they’ll argue that the fault, dear gambler, lies not in our Stardust casinos, but in ourselves. In doing so, the industry will set up a rock-solid defense against troubling lawsuits and arm pro-casino legislators with scientific data.
Brochu c. Societe des loteries du Québec: from Elkind & Lipton Law Firm Toronto
In May 2002, a Quebec court authorized Canada’s first class-action lawsuit over problem gambling. The Quebec Superior Court ruled that a case against Loto-Québec, the provincial gaming corporation, may proceed to trial as a class action. The case, Brochu c. Societe des loteries du Québec, [2002] J.Q. No. 1062 (QL) is spearheaded by Jean Brochu, a disbarred lawyer, who claims he lost tens of thousands of dollars playing VLTs and stole $50,000 to cover his debts. The Quebec Court conferred upon the applicant Brochu, the status of representative to bring a class action on behalf of a group of individuals described as:
“All persons who, since June 1993, have become pathological gamblers through using video lottery machines supplied and maintained by the respondent in bars, beer parlors and other public places.”On behalf of these individuals, estimated to be 119,000 in number, Brochu seeks $700 million in damages.
The Court identified the following legal issues to be dealt with collectively:
1. each member of the group is a pathological gambler and is thus suffering from an illness;
2. each member of the group suffers from this illness as a result of the respondent’s (Loto-Québec) fault;
3. each member of the group has the right to damages which must be quantified;
4. as regards the civil liability of the respondent;
a. Does the respondent have the obligation to warn users of the risks of VLT’s?
b. If so, has the respondent fulfilled this obligation?The defendant in the above-named action is Loto-Québec. It is seeking to add 3 manufacturers of gaming equipment as intervenors in the case, as Loto-Québec’s position is that it does not make the equipment but merely houses it. It is seeking indemnification from the manufacturers of the gaming equipment.
The VLT game known as “Red Hot 7” has created this hotbed of legal issues.
Some very interesting questions stem from this lawsuit: What responsibility does the government have? Does the government have a prima facie duty of care towards users of its own service? (the customer or participant is undeniably a gambler). The government here is the sole legal provider of this service or activity, and it enforces its own enacted laws making it illegal for others to be providers. (The government even advertises the exclusive availability of its various forms of gambling to the general public).
Are there any valid policy reasons or considerations which justify a denial of liability? An important factor to consider in this context is that there are no other legal safeguards in place which address the problem of compulsive gambling.
The Brochu lawsuit will likely prompt similar cases in other provinces.
Before the Brochu lawsuit was commenced, problem gambling had received significant attention in Canada. Treatment and prevention programs were firmly in place in many provinces. As early as 1999, the provinces, combined, spent over $28 million on problem gambling treatment programs, clearly not disclaiming responsibility toward problem gamblers.
Administrator
September 2nd, 2008 at 6:52 am
I spent $50,000 during my gambling career and ended at Bellwood Health Services in Toronto for 66 days. This was two years ago. I found that I was totally addicted to these machines.
September 16th, 2008 at 7:30 pm
ive lost everything to those things i wanna be part of this class action suit if someone reads this plz email be how id be able to join on this i always wanted to get back at lotto quebec
September 17th, 2008 at 11:43 pm
Hello P:
Not sure what province you are in. Contact Sol at Viva Consulting and he can direct you.
http://www.vivaconsulting.com/
September 20th, 2008 at 12:51 am
I understand there is a class action suit in the State of New York. Hopefully this will be the beginning of some positive action from the casinos.
Sincerely
Marilyn Lancelot
March 14th, 2009 at 12:11 am
I too lost everything to vlt s. i was paid bi-weekly and would put 8 or 9 hundred into the machines
all the while knowing that I would have nothing to live on until my next pay check Red hot sevens was the worse .All you needed was 5 sevens anywhere on the board for a chance at 5,6.7 or even 800 dollars. As a single mom living on a limited income, it was hard to resist. I don’t believe that the government has any business being in gambling. Is it not their duty to protect the people they serve? I would love to be included in this lawsuit.
November 19th, 2009 at 3:50 pm
I have lost 200,000$ in my gambling carrer…I started playing compulsively at the age of 16, I am now 27 years old and I am still paying my debt, after 10 years it is still at 75,000$….Government my ass! They put VLT’s on EVERY street corner and say“its not our fault“ bullshit! It is 100% their fault….they place the machines on every street corner and an ATM within 2 feet of them, just to add insult to injury.
Thank you Loto Quebec and the great nation of Canada!
November 22nd, 2009 at 3:15 pm
The government should never have allowed casinos. So many lives have been ruined, so much needless waste so the government can line their pockets out of the mouths of babes. I have lost tons of money on the slots. Take out the o and add a u. I tried ways to stop going and it failed. I have recently self excluded which is a joke but the only avenue the OLG has for problem gamblers. They would let someone sit at a machine until they fell over or died before they intervened. You can’t tell me they don’t know who the problem gamblers are. A bar knows who the drunks are and now even they can stop serving you. The gambling ATMS don’t tell you your balance? They tell you how much more you can take out. regardless of overdraft or anything else. Now they have Hosts and parties etc and on and on. Dinners. Well you have to eat their because you spent all the grocery money. They are the dealers for the drug and something needs to be done. The casino I went to most is 2 blocks away from my house.
March 24th, 2010 at 6:05 pm
I need help.
My husband gambled away all of our savings.
Where can I can some reimbursement. He was a liar for so many years. He lost more than $400,000.
The Casino de Montreal gave him free trips, coupons for clothes, shows etc.
Can we join the lawsuit? I have to do something. My life destroyed.
How do we get reimubursed also for psychologist therapy.. He went to therapy for 2 years.
All our troubles started in 1994-when the Casino opend in Montreal
Thank you.
Charisse
March 27th, 2010 at 1:02 am
Hi Charisse
Please contact Sol Baxenbaum at CJAD. He has worked with GWG in the past and will be able to assist you.
http://www.cjad.com/shows/415397
sol(at)cjad(dot)com
April 7th, 2010 at 2:47 am
have spent at lease 600.000 since casino rama opened and wonder how i can live and have a normal life when i know i am broke.i was opt put a few years ago, but n oone ever checked and i was still going there and noone stop me
August 10th, 2010 at 2:55 am
the people at loto quebec must be the worst type of people on the planet, how they come off as caring and offering help. the help they talk about is insulting. no one calls those numbers, no one stops when their time is up on the machines, no one believes the 92% they claim, and they are so rude when you try to reason with them , my dream one night was all the citizens got baseball bats and simply destroyed every vlt in every bar and diner. someone at some point should be held responsible for all this damage,that to this day continues, they come out with all kinds of “studies” about gambling behaviour, they live in a world so detached from the real one and really are not aware and in some cases, make fun of the problem, what a shame that this has happened, if in any way any citizen can sue their asses off, i don’t care what their excuse is, sue their asses off and leave them without a job, it’s time they got their own medicine.
October 28th, 2010 at 6:29 am
I won on a scratch about 3 months ago. I was counting on that money to pay bills and spent the money i had, trusting the company. Now they are refusing to pay me. I have called every day to know when I will get it and it went from being 10 days to 3 months. This morning I called and they don’t even know who I am. It is amazing how lotteries profit from the most vulnerable. Millions of people are hung up on lottery addictions because they have a dream of winning. Not only are the chances of winning highly misrepresented, but when you beat the odds and do win… they don’t pay you!
February 12th, 2011 at 9:47 pm
Hello to who ever reads this.I to cannot get mylife together!!! I have been addicted to those
life ruining machines since 1997..Lost my house all my savings and every weekley income.
Loto Quebec tells you to get help before its to late…….But by the time you read that part its already to late.they say they payout 92% yes to them selfs.My husband is 45 at 43 he had a massive heart attack !!!!!!
We quit smoking which was really hard but made it…BUT we still GAMBLE help we want to quit for good its worse than smokes…..
The Gov.supplies patches to help quit smoking of course they had legalized them in the fisrt place.I say the gov.should have never been aloud to take money from us like that.They are every were restaurents,shopping malls,bars and even in Bingo halls !!!!!
We would love to be part of this class action lawsuit…….
July 5th, 2011 at 1:57 am
Hello I am from Alberta I have been and still am addicted to the vlts I have been hooked on them for 5 years now is there any lawsuits pending or anything against the alberta goverment? I am about to loose everything because of them thank you
Larry
July 7th, 2011 at 2:28 am
Larry:
I’m not aware of any current suits. Please get help for your addiction - provincial addiction counsellors in your province may have a better knowledge of what legal action is going on.
http://www.gamingresearchpartners.com/wp-content/themes/gamblingresearch/pdf/Status_of_Canadian_Compulsive_Gambling_Litigation.pdf