Rose Singleton

Deciding an “unusually difficult” costs application, a judge has declined to award Monsanto all of its costs for defending a class action alleging its Roundup weed killer is carcinogenic, saying the agrochemical giant should have pushed harder for a split trial. 

A judge has dismissed a class action alleging Monsanto’s Roundup weed killer is carcinogenic but did not go so far as to say it definitively does not cause cancer, while also dressing down the lawyers for both sides for causing delays in the case.

The Australian Football League has panned as “legally misconceived” a bid to drag individual clubs into a class action against the league on behalf of football players who allegedly suffered brain injuries.

The lead plaintiff and several group members in a class action against the Australian Football League on behalf of players who allegedly suffered brain injuries have “very strong” opposition to adding individual clubs, a court has heard.

The AFL has scored a small victory in concussion litigation brought by players, winning an order temporarily halting a case by former Western Bulldogs player Liam Picken.

The Australian Football League has asked a court to stay an individual lawsuit brought by a “totally incapacitated” former Western Bulldogs player until a related class action on behalf of players who allegedly suffered brain injuries is decided.

Defending allegations that its popular weed killer Roundup is carcinogenic, agrochemical giant Monsanto has accused the class action of having its “finger on the scales” when presenting scientific evidence to the court.

Monsanto can’t throw out the evidence of an expert for the plaintiff in a class action over its Roundup product who has testified that the company engaged in criminal conduct in trying to bury scientific reports on the popular weed killer’s alleged cancer-causing properties.

A class action against the AFL on behalf of players who allegedly suffered brain injuries will expand its group definition to include family members and dependents, while a competing case by the widow of Shane Tuck has been dropped. 

The law firm representing the wife of the late AFL player Shane Tuck in a class against the Australian Football League on behalf of players who allegedly suffered brain injuries is seeking court approval to discontinue the case for lack of litigation funding.