Qantas should pay a penalty of the “highest order” for outsourcing its ground crew staff during the COVID pandemic, a union has argued, while a judge has questioned if he needs to send a message that “you can’t play the court for a fool”.
In explaining where CBA shareholders went wrong in proving damages from the bank’s omissions over an AUSTRAC probe, the Full Federal Court has given class action plaintiffs the clearest indication yet of how they might win.
A judge hearing Maurice Blackburn’s application for a 30 per cent group costs order in a consumer class action against JB Hi-Fi has opined that an all-in group costs order was a better deal for group matters than the return in a typical funded case.
Two soon-to-be consolidated class actions against Harvey Norman are fighting the retailer’s bid to appoint a costs referee, saying this was unnecessary given their plan to secure a group costs order.
A court has approved a $64 million settlement in a consumer class action against the NAB units MLC Trustees and NULIS Nominees, with 69 per cent of the settlement sum to go to group members.
The plaintiff in a flex commissions class action against ANZ has asked the court to approve a $85 million settlement, including a 24.5 per cent group costs order, citing the “considerable risk” involved in running the case.
The failure of two class actions to prove loss linked to the Commonwealth Bank’s disclosure breaches was not the fault of the bank, an appeals court has held in dealing the latest blow to shareholder group proceedings.
A $59 million settlement has been reached in a long-running class action accusing five major banks of foreign exchange rate-rigging.
Two class actions against Commonwealth Bank have partially succeeded on appeal, with a finding that the bank breached its continuous disclosure obligations, but damages still elude shareholders.
Resolving a split between courts, the High Court has confirmed that judges have power to make soft class closure orders, which require class action members to register before mediation to participate in any resulting settlement.