The state of South Australia is facing a possible class action over a restrictive six-day lockdown that was lifted after two days when it was discovered that a worker connected to a coronavirus outbreak in Adelaide had lied to contact tracers about the time he spent at a pizza shop.
A former Rio Tinto executive living in the US who wants to appear in person at an upcoming trial in a case brought by ASIC says the hearing should be moved to next year when a COVID-19 vaccine will likely become available and he could travel to Australia to “mount a vital defence”.
Insurers may face a class action by holders of business interruption insurance that have had their COVID-19-related claims rejected, following their loss in a test case over whether an infectious disease exclusion in business interruption cover applies to coronavirus-related claims.
Insurers will face a flood of pandemic-related claims after an appeals court ruled in a test case brought by the Insurance Council that certain infectious disease exclusions in business interruption cover do not apply to coronavirus-related claims.
Will we see an increase in class actions and funded litigation following the COVID-19 financial crisis similar to that following the global financial crisis? If there is an onslaught of corporate failures, including failed managed investment schemes, then such litigation seems likely to ensue. However, in the last year, Parliament and the courts have taken steps which might slow such litigious activity, says Susan Goodman of Holding Redlich.
A nursing home in Melbourne’s Western suburbs may be hit with a class action over a COVID-19 outbreak at the facility that resulted in the deaths of 11 residents.
The High Court has unanimously rejected a constitutional challenge against the Victorian government over its COVID-19 lockdown measures.
Aircraft engineers for Qantas are challenging a ruling that the airline had no “genuine choice” when it stood them down in March during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Billionaire Clive Palmer has lost his challenge to Western Australia’s COVID-19 border lockdown, with the High Court tossing the case after finding the state’s measures were constitutionally valid.
Two Sydney-based companies have lost a bid to reinstate their commercial lease, with a judge rejecting submissions that the COVID-19 moratorium on evictions applied to rental agreement breaches that did not relate to rent. In a judgment delivered on October 28, NSW Supreme Court Justice Geoff Lindsay rejected an interlocutory application by First Renewable and…