Class Actions

Hospitality giant Merivale has agreed to settle an underpayments class action alleging it failed to pay workers amounts owed for overtime hours worked.

Suncorp subsidiary AAI has asked a court to order soft class closure in a group proceeding over allegedly worthless insurance, saying it was “passing strange” that over 200,000 group members “don’t know they’re even group members” three years into the case. 

International Capital Markets may soon face a third class action, a court has heard, as the first two class actions to be filed against the Sydney-based online broker over risky contracts for difference mull consolidation. 

A judge has dismissed Aldi’s bid to have a class action alleging it underpaid Australian workers to the tune of $150 million summarily dismissed, saying the application was “not a suitable vehicle” to determine factual issues including whether a $17 million remediation nullifies the class action’s claims. 

A judge has held that there could be favourable costs consequences for Carnival if its rejected $15 million settlement offer in the Ruby Princess class action turns out to be more generous than the ultimate damages award, departing from a previous ruling that so-called Calderbank offers do not operate in group proceedings. 

Asylum seekers who were put in immigration detention in South Australia can transfer their cases to the Federal Court to run their claims as a class action accusing the federal government of negligence and unlawful detention.

The High Court has refused special leave in a failed class action against Volkswagen over allegedly defective Takata airbags.

It’s a case of déjà vu in a class action against engineering services company Worley, with shareholders heading back to the appeals court after losing a second trial in their drawn out fight over disclosure breaches.

Online broker International Capital Markets has been hit with a second class action for selling “excessively risky” derivative products known as contracts for difference to retail investors. 

A judge has signed off on a 27.5 per cent group costs order in a consolidated shareholder class action against Medibank over a cyberattack that affected 10 million customers, noting the “significant risk” taken on by the two plaintiff law firms running the action.