Class Actions

A judge has found that lead plaintiffs in a class action by commercial fishing operations against Gladstone Ports can bring new claims out of time, saying it would be “grossly inconsistent” if group members had broader limitation relief than representative parties.

A judge has railed against continuing delays in a class action against the Federal Government over its total ban on live cattle exports to Indonesia in 2011, as group members continue to go unpaid almost three years after a ruling awarding $2.9 million to the lead applicant.

Retailers represented in a class action against Tyro over an EFTPOS outage will get 40 per cent of a settlement with the fintech after a funding commission and fees are deducted.

A class action has been filed on behalf of 25 people whose loved ones died during a COVID-19 outbreak at the Newmarch House in Sydney.

Optus has been hit with a class action on behalf of current and former customers whose personal information was exposed in a massive data breach last September that affected up to 10 million people. 

Cruise operator Scenic Tours is stuck with a $10 million damages bill but has avoided paying for disappointed traveller’s flights, after an appeals court mostly rejected its appeal of an award to travellers who were promised a “once in a lifetime cruise along the grand waterways of Europe” but were instead forced to take the bus.

The state of Victoria is trying again to stay a class action over the 2020 hotel quarantine debacle in light of a pending criminal action against the Department of Health, telling an appeals court the fundamental principles of the criminal justice system must be protected.

A judge has slammed as a “schemozzle” a law firm’s attempt to drop a class action by Telstra employees over the telecom giant’s COVID-19 vaccine policy, saying it failed to seek court approval for the discontinuance or give notice to group members as required.

Discount retail chain The Reject Shop has become the latest Australian company to be stung with an underpayments class action.

Qoin cryptocurrency issuer BPS Financial is fighting a class action applicant’s bid to amend its case for the fourth time, saying it is trying to bring an “entirely new claim”.