The judge overseeing seven class actions against some of the world’s largest car makers over defective Takata airbags has ordered that class closure take place in advance of mediation, saying it was “time…for commercial reality to bite”.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has brought legal action against a financial planner and advice firm formerly owned by ANZ Bank after they were examined as a Royal Commission case study on “bad advice”.
A scientist alleging she was fired from the CSIRO for filing sex discrimination and sexual harassment complaints has had the majority of her lawsuit against the government body dismissed, with the court finding she fabricated evidence and that an incident in which she was slapped on the backside with a riding crop by her supervisor and told to “get back to work” did not amount to sexual harassment.
Japanese auto maker Mazda is facing regulatory action from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission for allegedly refusing to provide purchasers of defective vehicles with a full refund or no-cost replacement, amid a continuing threat of a possible class action over alleged defects in certain vehicles.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s high-stakes case against Google is the first of its kind worldwide targeting the tech giant’s data collection practices. The ACCC is in familiar territory in bringing a front-page legal challenge under the consumer laws that will require it to prove misleading conduct by silence, but if recent losses by the regulator are any guide, it could face an uphill battle.
An impending judgment in the long-running class action against Johnson & Johnson unit Ethicon over allegedly defective pelvic mesh implants has sent the parties scrambling about opt out notices and the Federal Court considering reversing prior orders that expanded the group definition.
A class action accusing Westpac of issuing unsuitable home loans is pushing forward with overhauled pleadings after the corporate watchdog lost a related regulatory action, and the class now says it was enough that the bank failed to account for borrowers’ so-called essential expenses.
The Fair Work Ombudsmand has vowed to hold Woolworths to account after the supermarket giant disclosed Wednesday it had underpaid thousands of employees up to $300 million and was “deeply sorry”.
The litigation funder that backed a now dismissed class action against aviation service provider Airservices has argued funders should not face costs orders in Fair Work class actions, with a judge saying the debate raised “a point of high principle”.
Lawfinance, formerly known as Just Kapital, has won summary dismissal of a lawsuit initiated by its founder seeking a piece of the funder’s $5 million cut of the $16.85 million Wickham securities class action settlement.