The funder of a class action over the Morrison government’s Robodebt scheme will seek a 15 per cent commission at an upcoming settlement approval hearing, a court has heard, after the case settled for a record $548.5 million.
JB Hi-Fi has lost its bid for soft class closure orders in a class action on behalf of eight million customers, with a judge finding it would likely lead to conflicts of interest and a “post-settlement wave” of late registrations.
A shareholder class action over BHP’s disclosures about a Brazilian dam that collapsed 10 years ago has settled for $110 million on the eve of trial, one of a handful of class actions to settle for over $100 million.
Brittany Higgins must cover 80 per cent of Linda Reynolds’ legal costs on top of $315,000 in damages the former senator was awarded in her defamation case over social media posts that implied she mishandling Higgins’ rape allegations against Bruce Lehrmann.
Coles and Woolworths estimate they will need to remediate underpaid workers up to $780 million, following a complex judgment in two class actions and regulatory proceedings handed down last week.
A judge has criticised the “unacceptably complex” trial of two regulatory cases and two underpayments class actions against Coles and Woolworths, delivering a ruling whose significance for the workers is not yet clear.
JB Hi-Fi has lost its bid for a hearing on a separate question in a class action over allegedly worthless warranties, with a judge saying the novel question has not been considered by the High Court and could lead to appeals.
BHP has pushed back on reply submissions in a shareholder class action which the energy company says mistakenly interpret an internal report as putting the risk of collapse of BHP’s wastewater dam in Brazil at 25 to 50 per cent.
JB Hi-Fi wants an advance ruling in a class action on the period of cover provided to customers for breach of statutory guarantees under the consumer law, a question that has never been addressed by the courts.
The state of Victoria has attacked the “magical thinking” of a class action over its COVID-19 hotel quarantine debacle, as the applicants seek to plead an alternative case holding the state responsible for a wave of infections.