An upcoming legal battle over whether counterclaims can be brought against non-party group members in a class action against a unit of recruiter Tandem could hamper bookbuilding efforts by making class actions less attractive to group members, an expert has told Lawyerly.
A subsidiary of workforce management company Tandem, which contracts with Telstra and Optus, has foreshadowed future cross-claims against group members who claim they were misclassified as contractors and denied employment benefits.
A judge overseeing the Ruby Princess class action has cautioned funders against “double dipping” when seeking payouts from group members, while cruise line Carnival has attempted to shift part of the blame for the COVID-19 debacle onto the Prime Minister.
A high ranking executive from the Commonwealth Bank of Australia has warned that an increase in class actions could discourage Australia’s best corporate leaders from joining company boards.
Shine Lawyers and the union backing Australia’s fast food workers are investigating claims against McDonald’s after the Federal Court ruled against a “reckless” franchisee who threatened to bar employees from toilet breaks.
Eight law firms made it to the courthouse door just under the wire last week, filing class actions on the eve of regulations that will require funders to register their class actions as managed investment schemes.
Communications and technical services company BSA Limited has slammed as “opportunistic” an employment class action by allegedly underpaid technicians, saying the media was informed of the proceedings before it was.
Shine Lawyers is investigating two new class actions against Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Westpac’s BT Funds Management over allegedly excessive insurance premiums, a week after filing a similar case against AMP’s life insurance arm.
There is an “embarrassing” foreign influence on Australian laws, a plaintiff law firm has told a parliamentary inquiry into class actions, after revealing that Treasurer Josh Frydenberg met with an affiliate of the US Chamber of Commerce in May, shortly before announcing a crackdown on litigation funders.
AMP Life has been hit with a class action alleging its financial representatives pushed inflated insurance policies onto 100,000 customers while knowing that better policies could be found through other providers.