Is a class member entitled to an opt-out from a settlement offer made directly to the class member?

Class proceedings involve trade-offs of benefits and burdens to create a balance between fairness and efficiency. Class members gain benefits such as access to justice, cost savings, and the ability to avoid duplicative proceedings and, in exchange, assume burdens including the loss of litigation autonomy if they do not opt out. As Justice Perell observed in Berry v. Pulley, 2011 ONSC 1378. a case involving the right of a class member to accept a settlement offer made directly to the class member by a defendant, a “litigant’s right to settle an action is taken away when he or she is a class member in a [certified] class proceeding”: at para. 46. He explained the policy rationale: