A beauty contest to lead a class action against Monsanto over its allegedly cancer-causing weedkiller Roundup could be on foot, with the US chemical giant now facing one class action in the Federal Court and another in the Victorian Supreme Court.
Two months after rejecting the deal because the litigation funder’s cut appeared excessive, a judge has approved a $42 million class action settlement with Murray Goulburn while the funder keeps up the fight over its commission.
Coles has agreed to pay about $5.25 million to dairy co-operative Norco after an investigation by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission found the supermarket giant failed to pass on the full price rise it charged consumers for Coles-branded fresh milk as it promised to do.
A judge has rejected a proposal to jointly hear argument for approval of settlements in two class actions against milk supplier Murray Goulburn, saying the issues in one case — led by the legal team under scrutiny for alleged professional misconduct in a separate class action — could be more complicated.
The litigation funder financing the second of two recently settled shareholder class actions against Murray Goulburn will face similar scrutiny over its commission as the funder behind the first action.
Sustainable tech firm Papyrus Australia has lost its bid to throw out a $750,000 defamation case brought against it by an ex-managing director, which alleges the omission of his name in the company’s 2018 annual report was akin to calling him a liar.
Whether judges can alter the terms of litigation funding agreements in class actions is a question that will remain unsettled for now, after litigation funder IMF Bentham chose to sidestep a lengthy, costly and risky challenge to the reach of the court’s powers.
The Supreme Court of Victoria has considered whether an insured buyer under a warranty and indemnity policy is entitled to indemnity from an insurer when it relied on income and liability warranties in a share sale agreement and those warranties were breached, a case that provides welcome guidance on the contractual interpretation of W&I policies, writes Justin McDonnell and Rebecca LeBherz of King & Wood Mallesons.
The former chief financial officer of Murray Goulburn has asked a judge to relieve him from any disqualification order sought by the corporate watchdog in its case over his alleged role in the milk supplier’s continuous disclosure breaches, saying he is already the subject of orders that ban him from the dairy industry.
Murray Goulburn has agreed to pay $37.5 million to resolve the second of two shareholder class actions over its 2016 profit forecasts, as the $42 million settlement of the first class action is held up over questions about the litigation funder’s commission.