Kmart Australia and toy manufacturer Headstart International have hit back at Jellycat in a suit claiming they are selling ‘Bashful Bunny’ knockoffs, arguing the shape and features of the popular plush rabbit are not exclusive to the London-based soft toy designer.
Another auditor has landed in hot water over collapsed video company Big Un’s 2017 independent audit, with the lead accountant charged with making a false or misleading statement.
King & Wood Mallesons could be dragged into a class action by commercial fishing operators against Gladstone Ports Corporation over a “colossal disclosure debacle” in which the late discovery of 39,000 documents derailed a planned September hearing.
A judge has approved a $155,000 settlement in a class action on behalf of investors in failed streaming platform Guvera which racked up $500,000 in legal fees, saying the case should never have been filed as a class action and didn’t advance group members’ interests “one iota”.
A judge has signed off on a $20 million penalty against Westpac subsidiary BT Funds Management for improperly charging 9,000 members insurance premiums that included commissions to financial advisers, a practice that was banned in 2013.
A former judge’s associate has filed a discrimination complaint against the Tasmania Supreme Court alleging she was “shamed and humiliated” out of her role because of her relationship with one of the court’s judges.
Coal mining firm TerraCom has taken its bid to shield a PricewaterhouseCoopers report from ASIC to the Full Court, appealing a judgment which found the regulator could view the report because of public statements made by the company.
A judge has approved a bid by group members to discontinue a class action alleging pharmacy giant Priceline exercised an “overly prescriptive level of control” on franchisees which limited their profitability, saying it was unlikely to succeed with a litigation funder.
Telstra has denied that it is liable to compensate a Queensland barrister who lost his phone numbers in an NBN transfer, arguing that it was the silk’s decision to terminate his contract with the company.
Nine has hit back at a class action by Indigenous Australians who say the broadcaster’s coverage of a $30 million class action settlement with the Queensland government for alleged police misconduct during the 2004 Palm Island riots was discriminatory and inaccurate, saying it reported the events “fairly and accurately”.
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