Tasmanian state-owned ports company TasPorts has admitted to charging additional fees to the owner of a local port, but has denied the ACCC’s allegations that these actions constituted a misuse of market power designed to stymie competition.
The makers or popular opioid drugs like OxyContin and Fentanyl may face a class action in Australia by consumers who allege they suffered financial loss from the addictive drugs.
While these unprecedented and challenging times are placing profound pressure on the operations and financial position of businesses, it’s important to remember that companies are not exempt from complying with the competition and consumer laws. King & Wood Mallesons’ Peta Stevenson, Caroline Coop, Lisa Huett and Simon Cook give companies a guide to navigating unexpected challenges when dealing with competitors, consumers and other parties during the COVID-19 health crisis.
Westpac is still locked in mediation with AUSTRAC over allegations that it committed over 23 million breaches of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws, with the bank’s hopes of moving to a penalty hearing in the early part of the year fading.
A judge overseeing a class action against National Australia Bank over ‘junk insurance’ has ordered that potential group members be given information about cancelling the policies, but not before taking the applicants to task for not having the polices automatically cancelled as part of the $49.5 million settlement.
Oil and gas giant Santos has settled a class action brought by a group of Indigenous Australians who claim they were misled about their entitlement to receive certain travel allowances while working as casual cultural heritage monitors for the company.
A judge has dismissed an opposition by tech company Vehicle Management Systems to a patent application by rival SARB Management Group for an integrated magnetic parking overstay detector.
The COVID-19 pandemic has opened the door to a host of potential class actions involving claims of government negligence, employment law, product liability and consumer law, one legal expert has said.
The developers behind the Governor Place residential complex in Canberra have reached a settlement in a class action by aparment owners seeking $6.3 million in GST payments on their units.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission will scale back its use of certain investigatory tools, such as compulsory examinations, amid the strain on Australian businesses from the spread of COVID-19.