Class Actions

Discount retail chain The Reject Shop has foreshadowed two challenges to an underpayments class action, claiming store managers were not covered by the general retail award and that their allegations have to be run individually. 

A court has signed off on a settlement in a six-year-old class action against mining services company Thiess by fly-in fly-out workers recruited for construction of a Woodside Energy LNG plant in WA’s Pilbara region.

Pet and livestock drug company Zoetis, which successfully defended a class action over its horse vaccine Equivac, is pressing forward with its claim against the legal team that ran the unfunded case, seeking to recover $500,000 of its $3.8 million legal bill.

The law firm that secured a $25 million settlement in a class action against dairy co-op Fonterra is fighting to recoup $5.4 million in legal fees, asking the court to disregard parts of an expert report slashing its fees.

A class action on behalf of women injured by alleged defective pelvic mesh will not advise group members the estimated average return from the proceeds of a settlement against defunct device manufacturer TFS’ insurer because it would be “cruel”.

The judge overseeing a class action against Monsanto over its weed killer has rejected the agrochemical giant’s application to amend the common questions to be decided at a liability trial to account for its alternative defence.

A litigation funder whose cut of a $98 million settlement in franchise class actions against 7-Eleven was slashed in half is challenging a judge’s finding that “strong reasons” exist to refuse it a common fund order.

The applicant in a class action against Blue Sky Alternative Investments and auditor EY has raised an “often overlooked” principle to challenge the separate legal representation of two of the company’s directors, dodging applications for almost $15 million in security – for now.

A judge has approved a $29 million settlement in a class action against Westpac over ‘junk’ consumer credit insurance, a deal that earns the bank’s customers at least $19.6 million. 

A judge has admonished a class action applicant over continuing delays in a four-year-old class action against NAB which he said “should not be allowed to languish any longer”.