Settlements
A snapshot of some of this year’s settlements.
Class Action | Jurisdiction | Summary of Claim | Settlement details | Court Approval |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Uber | Supreme Court of Victoria | Allegations that Uber engaged in an unlawful conspiracy to run an illegal rideshare business with the intention of causing loss and harm to taxi drivers. | $271.8 million settlement, including a 30% funding commission ($82 million) and $38.7 million in legal costs. | Approved |
Junior Doctors | Supreme Court of NSW | Brought on behalf of early career doctors who claim they were required to work in excess of their rostered ordinary hours and were not paid their entitlements to overtime. | $229.8 million settlement, including $16.5 million in legal costs. | Approved |
NT Stolen Wages | Federal Court (Vic Registry) | Brought on behalf of Indigenous Australians in the Northern Territory who were allegedly paid little or no wages between 1933 and 1972. | $202 million settlement. Shine is claiming $24.5 million in fees and a 20 per cent commission for the funder but these aspects remain subject to Court approval. | Partially Approved |
AMP Financial Planning | Federal Court (Vic Registry) | Filed on behalf of financial advisers under the control of AMP claiming losses arising from AMP’s changes to its Buyer of Last Resort arrangement. | $100 million settlement, including $37 million in costs and funder’s commission. The Court refused to allow for recovery of $2 million in premiums for after-the-event insurance policy. | Approved |
Colonial | Federal Court (Vic Registry) | Alleges that Colonial charged commissions in breach of the 2013 Future of Financial Advice reforms. | $100 million settlement, including legal costs of $7.467 million and $23.1 million for the funder. | Approved |
Hino emissions | Supreme Court of Victoria | Sought compensation for owners of Hino vehicles for alleged emissions testing misconduct by Hino. | $87 million. Maurice Blackburn is seeking 25% pursuant to a Group Costs Order. | Pending |
ANZ Flex Commissions | Supreme Court of Victoria | Brought on behalf of car owners who allege loss due to flex commissions set by ANZ which incentivised car dealers to impose significantly higher interest rates. | $85 million. The agreement also includes a group costs order of 24.5 per cent for law firm Maurice Blackburn. | Pending |
Tasmanian Youth Detention | Supreme Court of Tasmania | Brought on behalf of previous detainees of the Ashley Youth Detention Centre who allegedly suffered physical and sexual abuse between 1960 to 2023. | $75 million settlement including $7.95 million in legal costs. | Approved |
Treasury Wine Estates | Supreme Court of Victoria | Alleges Treasury Wine Estates breached its continuous disclosure requirements and engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct in relation to earnings guidance provided in 2018 and 2019. | $65 million. | Pending |
MLC Super | Supreme Court of Victoria | Claims that MLC and NULIS breached their duties to members by failing to transition funds to the lower-cost MySuper product in a timely manner. | $64.25 million, inclusive of legal costs. | Pending |
ANZ Credit Card | Federal Court (Vic Registry) | Alleges ANZ’s credit card contracts included unfair terms, allowing the bank to charge account holders retrospective interest and retroactively cancel customers’ interest-free periods. | $57.5 million settlement, including $7.1 million for legal costs, a 25% commission for litigation funder Woodsworth and $1.2 million in costs for ATE insurance. | Approved |
Monash IVF | Supreme Court of Victoria | Alleges that Monash IVF and seven other assisted reproduction providers may have discarded viable embryos after using non-invasive preimplantation testing that is now considered to be far less reliable than initially believed. | $56 million settlement, including $10.6 million for costs. | Approved |
RCR Tomlinson | Supreme Court of NSW | Alleges RCR Tomlinson breached its continuous disclosure obligations, engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct and made misleading statements in their August 2018 prospectus. | $40 million settlement including $11 million in legal costs and a 20% commission for funders Burford and Omni Bridgeway. | Approved |
Retail Food Group | Federal Court (Vic Registry) | Brought on behalf of franchisees who allege RFG breached the franchise agreements, the Australian Consumer Law and the Franchising Code of Conduct through its implementation of "Franchise System Changes", entering into franchise agreements with unfair terms and misusing marketing funds. | No settlement payment to be made however RFG agreed to forego a costs order in its favour and release 166 franchisees from historical debts amounting to $13 million. | Approved |
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