Class Actions

Two firms have agreed to consolidate their class actions against online trading platform IG Markets over risky CFDs, but the company failed in a bid to have the two funders behind the cases liable for 100% of any security for costs order lest one funder defaults.

US consumer goods giant 3M is facing a possible class action on behalf of members of the Australian Defence Force who allegedly suffered hearing loss from defective combat earplugs.

Mercedes-Benz has been hit with a competing class action over alleged defeat devices designed to cheat on diesel emissions tests, over a year after the first class action was filed.

Cruise ship operator Carnival PLC has flagged a bid for indemnity costs after the lead applicant in a class action over a COVID-19 outbreak aboard the Ruby Princess rejected a $15 million settlement offer.

A law firm is investigating an shareholder class action against lithium battery producer Magnis Energy Technologies and auditor Hall Chadwick after its share price plummeted to four cents late last year.  

A shareholder class action against livestock exporter Wellard over a profit downgrade following its $300 million initial public offering in 2015 has settled for $23 million. 

A judge has approved a $4.5 million settlement in a class action over a fire allegedly ignited by welding work in rural NSW, despite a handful of objections from group members. 

A judge has signed off on a bill that brings the total settlement administration costs in a class action against Johnson & Johnson unit De Puy to over $13 million, amid a push by some judges to open the settlement administration gig up to competition.

Still in the dark about insurance coverage and seeking to stem the flow of cash, two class actions against Heritage Care and St Basil’s over COVID-19 outbreaks have been shelved pending the outcome of criminal cases against the Victorian aged care providers, in a decision the judge said “wouldn’t gladden the hearts of group members”. 

Construction giant Boral has lost its bid to block a class action from running a ‘novel’ argument that shareholders suffered loss because of natural fluctuations in share price, rather than as a direct result of alleged continuous disclosure breaches.