On the first day of trial in parallel class actions and regulatory proceedings, the Fair Work Ombudsman panned the payment systems adopted by Woolworths and Coles for salaried managers, saying they were “entirely foreign” to the industrial award and that the supermarket giants had “no meaningful proper records” for overtime.
In reasons for approving a $41 million deal to settle one of three shareholder class actions over Slater & Gordon’s acquisition of a UK firm and awarding the funder 28 per cent, a judge has challenged a persistent notion that the interests of litigation funders and group members are at odds.
Class action settlement sums reached new highs last year, with the ten largest agreements totalling almost $1 billion, almost half of which was secured by one plaintiff law firm.
Westpac has lost a bid to keep group members in the dark about the premiums paid for allegedly worthless consumer credit insurance, information the bank said could inflate expectations about settlements worth $126 million reached in three class actions.
Westpac has objected to several proposed notices going out to group members in a class action over ‘junk’ consumer credit insurance, which three of the Big Four banks have agreed to pay $126 million to settle.
A judge has approved a $41 million settlement in a shareholder class action against Pitcher Partners but has reduced the funder’s cut to $11.5 million after resolving a feud with the lead applicant over how much it should receive for taking the case to trial.
A judge has ordered Australian telecommunications companies Jabiru Satellite and NewSat to pay $1 million in security for costs in a lawsuit against eight major banks alleging they wrongfully withdrew financial support for Australia’s first independently owned satellite.
A judge has allowed two law firms to jointly run a consolidated shareholder class action against dairy company a2 Milk, saying the arrangement was in the interests of group members and was “not novel”.
Two law firms are set to work “hand in glove” in their proposed consolidated shareholder class actions against a2 Milk, with one senior barrister to be dropped as part of the “rationalisation” of the combined team.
NewSat investor Rockgold Holdings has lost its bid to appoint a special purpose liquidator to run a lawsuit against eight major banks after a judge found its proposed 70 per cent funding fee “wholly disproportionate”.