BHP Billiton is facing the possibility of a second shareholder class action over the Fundao dam failure at its mine in Brazil, but the cases may be put on hold pending the outcome of homicide charges against company employees.
The alleged masterminds behind the $130 million Plutus Payroll tax fraud have been barred by the Full Federal Court from using insurance to cover their $300,000 legal bill in two criminal proceedings.
Two ‘sham letters’ produced by a senior manager of national car repair franchise Ultra Tune led both the ACCC and the court ‘down the garden path,’ a Federal Court judge heard Thursday.
A conglomerate of entertainment companies, including Roadshow Films, Columbia Pictures and Disney, have launched further court proceedings against Australia’s telecommunication giants to block 151 domains accused of facilitating the piracy of copyrighted movies and TV shows.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is reportedly seeking a $10 million fine against H.J. Heinz after a Federal Court found it made misleading claims about the health benefits of its Little Kids Shredz products.
The final day of trial in the ACCC’s case over muscle gel Voltaren wrapped up Wednesday with a barrister for GlaxoSmithKline slamming as ‘onerous’ a compliance regime proposed by the consumer watchdog and blasting an injunction as unnecessary for a problem the pharmaceutical giant ‘inherited’ from Novartis.
Law firm Squire Patton Boggs is again on the losing end of a ruling by the judge presiding over a shareholder class action against GetSwift, a case now better known for infighting among lawyers than for the allegations levelled against the tech startup.
A judge has hit property manager Meriton with a $3 million penalty after finding the company misled consumers by manipulating negative TripAdvisor reviews, but the fine was well below the $20 million sought by the consumer watchdog.
Lawyers for two competing class actions against the Commonwealth Bank of Australia over breaches of anti-money laundering laws say the cases can happily co-exist, but whether the court will agree may well depend on the outcome of a closely-watched appeal in a separate battle over multiple proceedings.
US tyre company Goodyear wants to challenge a ruling in a long-running dispute with UK-based rival Dunlop over coveted trade marks for ‘Dunlop’ and ‘Flying D’.