Industries

A class action boutique has filed proceedings against Toyota’s finance arm over car loans that allegedly encouraged dealers to set high interest rates in exchange for large kickbacks.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has lost its bid to pursue a disciplinary case against former Grant Thornton director Bradley Taylor over his 2018 audit of fintech firm iSignThis while criminal proceedings are ongoing.

A judge has cut law firm Levitt Robinson’s costs in a class action against retirement village provider Aveo, finding the solicitors were “seriously derelict” in serving their evidence on loss and ran up over $1 million in avoidable costs.

Apple is facing a new class action on behalf of iPhone 6 and 7 users whose phones were ‘throttled’, or slowed down, due to updates the Silicon Valley company made to its iOS operating system, which were aimed at conserving battery life.

A Sydney concert promoter has lost his appeal against former Nine unit TEG Live, with an appeals court agreeing that his idea to promote a 2013 Australian tour by English-Irish boy band One Direction was not ‘unique’ enough to be confidential information. 

Sydney-based online broker International Capital Markets has been hit with a class action, and is facing the threat of another representative proceeding by investors who lost money trading risky contracts for difference.

Automotive electronics company Directed Electronics has won a $168.5 million award after a judge found its former manager and South Korean giant Hanhwa engaged in a “reprehensible” trade secrets theft.

Network Ten has argued that accused rapist Bruce Lerhmann’s evidence should be treated with “extreme suspicion” and rejected where it is not corroborated, as the judge overseeing Lehrmann’s defamation case against the broadcaster noted “real credit issues” with both Lehrmann and his accuser Brittany Higgins. 

In a victory for Zurich Australia, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission has lost its first-ever civil penalty case alleging an insurer failed to act with utmost good faith during claims handling.

Vittoria’s Cantarella Bros has lodged an appeal in a long-running trade mark stoush with Italian rival Lavazza after a judge found the coffee manufacturer’s two registered ‘Oro’ marks should be cancelled because the word was previously used by another coffee supplier.