Wealth manager E&P Financial Group has agreed to a $16 million settlement in a class action by Dixon Advisory clients who allege they suffered financial loss when the firm and its directors encouraged the purchase of high risk securities.
The litigation funder that backed a class action brought on behalf of Indigenous workers seeking to recover unpaid wages wants a 20 per cent commission from the settlement. But it faces pushback from the government of Western Australia, which has agreed to pay group members up to $165 million.
Plaintiff law firm Shine Lawyers has succeeded in narrowing the services an early learning services chain can register its ‘Shine Advantage’ trade mark for.
The government of Western Australia has agreed to pay up to $180.4 million to settle a class action on behalf of First Nations workers who were paid little or nothing over a 36-year period.
Carnival has pointed the finger at passengers in response to a class action over norovirus outbreaks on its Sun Princess cruise ship, a defence that recently flopped in a separate class action over a COVID-19 outbreak aboard Ruby Princess.
A judge has found Carnival PLC liable for failing to prevent a COVID-19 outbreak aboard the Ruby Princess cruise ship that left 28 people dead, but only awarded the lead applicant $4,000 for out-of-pocket expenses rather than the $360,000 in damages she sought.
A class action investigation has been launched against KFC, which is accused of depriving tens of thousands of workers of ten-minute paid breaks during shifts.
A trial in a class action against Western Australia on behalf of First Nations workers seeking to recover stolen wages has been pushed off, suggesting the parties are close to a settlement.
The Full Federal Court has answered a question vexing the court for the past four years, ruling that class action judges have the power to make common fund orders at settlement that allow litigation funders to reap a percentage commission beyond their contractual entitlement.
The Full Federal Court’s finding that the High Court did not extinguish the power of judges to make common fund orders on approval of class action settlements is the latest milestone in the evolution of Australian class action jurisprudence, experts say.