Case
Fairview Donut Inc., et al. v. The TDL Group, Tim Hortons
Justice George R. Strathy of the Ontario Superior Court issued a summary judgment in favor of Analysis Group client Tim Hortons, Inc., dismissing claims by a putative class of franchisees that the Canadian coffee and doughnut franchisor was engaged in price fixing and other anticompetitive conduct. In the matter of Fairview Donut Inc., et al. v. The TDL Group, Tim Hortons, the plaintiffs alleged that Tim Hortons' conversion from a "scratch bake" system to an "always fresh" system, as well as its introduction of a lunch menu, created a breach of contract, unjust enrichment, and a breach of duty of good faith at common law and under the Arthur Wishart Act and under like statutes in other jurisdictions. The franchisees sought almost $2 billion in damages.
On behalf of the defendant, Stikeman Elliott LLP retained an Analysis Group team, led by Managing Principal Marc Van Audenrode and Vice President Marissa Ginn, to address class certification issues in the matter. Analysis Group affiliate and Queens University professor Roger Ware filed three reports refuting plaintiffs' claims. On the matter of class certification, Professor Ware opined that there was no common basis for calculating "harm" to franchisees as a result of Tim Hortons' business-model innovations, "because financial performance could only be determined on an individual basis." In his ruling, Judge Strathy agreed with Professor Ware's conclusions that the actions of the franchisor were based on "a rational business decision made by Tim Hortons for valid economic and strategic reasons." He dismissed plaintiffs' claims.
The case has been widely publicized in CBC news and other Canadian media.
Meet Our People
Marc Van Audenrode*
Managing Principal*Dr. Van Audenrode is an expert in data analysis and econometrics, labor economics, antitrust and competition policy, and public economics. He has consulted to clients - including law firms and government agencies - in Canada, the US, and Europe. Dr. Van Audenrode’s work includes developing a methodology to value desktop software; he also developed expertise valuing goods as varied as restaurant franchises, executive stock options, or smartphone features. His recent work in public economics includes evaluating the economic rent from hydroelectricity to the Canadian economy and the value of logging rights on the ancestral territory of a Canadian First Nation. In the area of labor economics, his work has included filing an expert report assessing fair compensation for Quebec provincial judges and Quebec prosecutors and advising Quebec’s commission on pay equity. Dr. Van Audenrode has filed expert reports in courts in the US, Canada, Belgium, Germany, France, and the Netherlands, and has testified in Canada and the US. He recently filed a report with the Amsterdam Court of Appeal in support of the settlement reached between Ageas and claimant organizations in the Fortis case, the largest settlement ever reached through the Dutch Collective Settlement Act (WCAM). Dr. Van Audenrode’s scientific research and articles have been published in numerous peer-reviewed academic journals and trade journals. He is a coauthor of the book The Mutual Fund Industry: Competition and Investor Welfare, and is a frequent presenter at industry and academic conferences.
*Marc Van Audenrode srl