A judge has approved a bid to consolidate two shareholder class actions against Medibank over a cyberattack that affected 10 million customers, finding that having two firms on the record is better than a carriage contest.
On the first day of a seven-week trial, the applicant in a class action against Monsanto has taken aim at the agrochemical giant’s “same old approach” to undermining decades of evidence it says demonstrates the cancer-causing properties of popular weed killer Roundup.
Agrochemical giant Monsanto is digging in for a fight in a class action over its alleged carcinogenic weed killer, Roundup, having refused to budge in mediation despite a $16 billion settlement in the US.
A judge has endorsed Medibank’s bid to sue the OAIC so the court can weigh in on the health insurer’s bid to halt the regulator’s investigation in favour of a class action over its October data breach, saying the OAIC’s interference with the court proceedings could constitute a contempt of court.
The field of competitors in a four-way contest to run a shareholder class action against Downer EDI over a $40 million profit overstatement has narrowed with the consolidation of three cases, leaving one firm to face criticism over its comparative inexperience running group proceedings.
A shareholder class action that was filed in the wake of the banking royal commission over AMP’s fees-for-no-service practices has settled for $110 million.
Qantas has succeeded in attacking claims that it created a workplace that was “hostile to women”, leveled in a former female pilot’s sex discrimination and sexual harassment lawsuit.
Two courts have ruled that in competing class actions against Hyundai and Kia over allegedly faulty anti-lock braking systems, a plaintiff’s bid to transfer one of the cases from Victoria to the Federal Court should precede a carriage fight, deeming it the “straightforward” option.
A class action against Optus over a cyberattack that left the data of up to 10 million customers exposed is seeking access to an independent report prepared by Deloitte into the causes of the hack.
Class actions throw up all manner of ethical conundrums, but a recent Federal Court decision has shined a light on the question of whether funders and law firms should take out loans to run class actions and whether they can charge the costs to group members.