Class Actions

A funder that was bankrolling a class action against restaurant chain Fogo Brazilia alleging it misled franchisees about the profitability of its businesses has “pulled the pin” on the case, with the law firm running the proceeding agreeing to act on a no win, no fee basis. 

The Northern Territory public housing authority has moved to throw out a class action’s claims that it engaged in racial discrimination by failing to maintain public housing in remote Aboriginal communities. 

What’s good for the goose is good for the gander, lawyers have said in attacking a report to Parliament that recommends abolishing amendments adding a fault element to the continuous disclosure regime for ASIC cases but requiring shareholders to clear the higher bar in class actions.

A decision awarding carriage to Gilbert + Tobin in a class action against Jaguar Land Rover on the condition that it lower its funding rate lacked procedural fairness, the Full Court has found, prompting the firm to team up with its competitor to run the case. 

A judge has given the green light to amendments to a $100 million class action against NAB over the collapse of Walton Construction, which include new claims of equitable fraud and knowing involvement in misleading and deceptive conduct.

The Morrison-era reforms that introduced a fault element to the continuous disclosure laws should be repealed for civil penalty proceedings launched by ASIC, but retained for class actions by shareholders, a report of an independent review of the changes has recommended.

Four insurers have agreed to fork over $1 million to settle an investor class action against lender Axsesstoday over an allegedly misleading prospectus for a bond offering, while claims against PricewaterhouseCoopers will move forward.

A judge that tossed two shareholder class actions against the Commonwealth Bank of Australia has found the bank did not have to alert investors to the possibility of AUSTRAC proceedings, saying investors did not expect to be apprised of the “toings and froings” of regulatory investigations.

The High Court has been asked to overturn a NSW Court of Appeal decision finding it had no power to exclude unregistered group members from a settlement, which conflicted with Federal Court precedent, hearing the divergence of the important issue “can only be resolved by the High Court”.

A judge has expressed concerns about the plaintiff’s proposed group costs order rate in a shareholder class action against fleet management company FleetPartners, saying the purpose of the GCO regime was to lower costs to group members.