Embattled wealth advisor Dixon Advisory has filed for administration, saying its potential liability in two class actions and a $7.2 million penalty it agreed to pay in ASIC proceedings mean it is likely to become insolvent in the future.
A judge has rejected an art collector’s bid to enforce a settlement in litigation against the publisher of the Sunday Telegraph over an allegedly defamatory story concerning his purchase of a painting by Australian artist Del Kathryn Barton, finding he had lied about the story being false.
Telstra is liable for the “sickening” conduct of a former employee who accessed confidential contact information to launch a four-year campaign of sexual harassment against his next-door neighbours, a new lawsuit alleges.
Forum Finance director Bill Papas’ cousin has hit back at Westpac’s allegations he wrongfully received $720,000 from the alleged fraudster in violation of freezing orders made in the bank’s lawsuit, which seeks to recoup $294 million paid into an alleged fraudulent scheme.
Grant Thornton can’t dodge a “significant” counterclaim accusing the accounting firm of charging for “unnecessary and pointless” work in a case against a former client over $119,000 in unpaid fees.
If evidence were needed that courts are not rubber stamping class action settlements, the scrutiny of multi-million dollar agreements in 2021 is proof positive that judicial oversight of representative proceedings is robust.
Westpac is facing a lawsuit by a 67-year-old former manager, who alleges a colleague began a bullying campaign against him, including by asking him ‘When are you going to retire?’, after he complained that she was responsible for a backlog of declined insurance cases.
Accounting giant KPMG is seeking the dismissal of a lawsuit brought by a former long-serving employee over “unnecessarily aggressive, belittling and disproportionate” emails allegedly attacking his professional integrity.
The Transport Workers Union has appealed a judge’s decision that compensation was a more appropriate remedy for 1,800 Qantas workers who had been denied the “matchless blessing” of a job than reinstatement.
Class action settlement totals skyrocketed to over $900 million last year, and one law firm negotiated the lion’s share, with $672 million in settlements under its belt.