Two Australian companies have won their application for special leave to the High Court as they continue their fight to shut down a wrongful death case in the US brought by the families of 15 people killed in an aircraft crash near Lockhart River in northern Queensland in May 2005.
The ACCC’s recommendation in its digital inquiry report for a statutory cause of action for serious invasions of privacy has merit as a mechanism to safeguard individual’s privacy where it is not protected by the Privacy Act or the patchwork of surveillance and related legislation. But it remains to be seen whether there will be any greater governmental impetus than on previous occasions to make the legislative changes required, writes Gilbert + Tobin partner Melissa Fai and lawyer Stephanie Essey.
Five IOOF executives will learn their fate this week when a judge rules on a disqualification bid by the prudential regulator, the first judgment to be delivered by a court in a case filed in the wake of last year’s scandal-airing banking royal commission.
BASF has dropped a lawsuit alleging Sherwood Chemicals infringed two of its patents for an underground termite control system.
The judge overseeing multiple class actions against Volkswagen over its dieselgate emissions scandal has said he will “need persuading” before reallocating the settlement approval to a different judge, because “that’s something that happens in Victoria”.
Boutique class action firm Bannister Law has been told “not to make too much noise” from its spot at “the back of the bus” in the VW dieselgate class actions, after its legal team flagged its intention to try and expedite the $127.1 million settlement approval process.
The Federal Government wants the High Court to weigh in on a landmark ruling last month that found food manufacturing giant Mondelez was short-changing its Tasmanian shift workers on their personal leave entitlements under the Fair Work Act.
Thorn Group is seeking to raise $38.7 million to cover its share of a $29 million settlement in a consumer class action alleging its Radio Rentals unit pushed misleading ‘Rent, Try, $1 Buy’ leases onto vulnerable customers.
Facebook has come out against some of the competition watchdog’s recommendations in its final digital inquiry report and warned against the risk of pandering to powerful Australian media companies with regulation aimed at reining in rivals.
The Transport Workers’ Union has launched a case against Uber on behalf of a driver who was allegedly sacked for being ten minutes late, and has appealed to the Federal Government to intervene in the case.
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