The claims in two class actions alleging fast food giant KFC denied workers rest breaks are substantially similar but not identical, a court has heard, and whether or not the two cases are headed for a battle to survive remains to be seen.
The ATO has lost its bid for a court-appointed joint expert after it failed to find a witness with legal expertise in structuring hotel sales who was not “commercially conflicted”, with a judge ruling that Hilton should not be prevented from relying on an expert report it already obtained.
More than three years after filing a class action against failed asset finance lender Axsesstoday and auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers over a $50 million prospectus, the applicant has asked a court to file a new statement of claim that will join insurer Dual Australia to the case.
The judge overseeing alleged rapist Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation case against Network Ten and presenter Lisa Wilkinson has deferred a decision about whether accuser Brittany Higgins can be questioned over her speech outside the ACT courthouse after a mistrial was declared in Lehrmann’s criminal case.
In a victory for the ATO, a judge has found that payments made by Schweppes to PepsiCo as part of a bottling and distribution agreement, which did not expressly provide for payment of a royalty for use of the company’s IP, were royalties and should be taxed accordingly.
Food manufacturer Noumi is trying to reach agreement with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission on a penalty to propose to the court for violating its continuous disclosure obligations by overstating the value of inventory.
A judge has refused to disqualify himself from a case by the Victorian legal watchdog against the former directors of two law firms, saying errors by him at directions hearings in the case did not equate to bias.
Facing cross-examination for the first time in Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation case, former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins has denied she adapted her evidence to suit new information and dismissed the “insulting” proposition that she fabricated the alleged rape by Lehrmann out of fear she would lose her job.
A judge has signed off on a $26 million settlement in a shareholder class action against Ardent Leisure over the 2016 Dreamworld tragedy, including $7.8 million for the funder that backed the case and $5 million in legal costs.
Consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble Australia made misleading statements that its Fairy ‘30 Minute Miracle’ dishwashing tablet was better at cleaning than Reckitt Benckiser’s Finish Platinum Plus, but both companies made false claims about their products, a judge has found.