Opal Tower builder Icon and structural engineer WSP Structures have been joined as defendants in a class action brought by property owners, who have also added a slew of consumer law claims to the complex proceedings.
A judge has suggested hearing the long-running class action over the Opal Tower disaster as early as the first quarter of next year, as the court juggles three concurrent lawsuits and a slew of cross-claims over the doomed building.
Payouts in class actions in 2020 largely kept pace with the previous year despite the financial strain of the COVID-19 pandemic, with companies and other defendants paying more than $696 million to settle class actions last year.
A NSW council has agreed to fork over $16 million to settle a class action over a 2009 rubbish tip fire, after the High Court declined to hear the council’s challenge to a ruling that found it was responsible for the damage caused by the fire.
Dam operator Seqwater will appeal its loss in a long-running class action over the 2011 Queensland floods that destroyed over 2,000 homes, a move derided by the lawyer for the flood victims, who called for “an end to the injustice” her clients have suffered.
The NSW Supreme Court has ruled against the operators of two Queensland dams as well as the state government, finding they were vicariously liable for the negligence of flood engineers in the 2011 Southeast Queensland floods that destroyed over 2,000 homes.
The High Court has cleared the way for victims of a rubbish tip fire that tore through 17,000 acres of farmland in the NSW Riverina to claim more than $20 million in damages in a class action, after rejecting an appeal bid by the local council.