Optus, Medibank, Qantas: check the list of over 100 class actions
New class actions in Australia are coming thick and fast as lawyers take aim at high flyers such as Qantas, Optus and Medibank. Here’s a searchable table of the biggest 135 cases.
New class actions in Australia are coming thick and fast, with new potential claims on behalf of aggrieved consumers announced in recent weeks including a planned bid for compensation from embattled airline Qantas for flight cancellations, IAG for the price of insurance, and breast implant maker Allergan.
These would add to the more than 140 class actions currently on foot in the Federal Court, with actions brought against health insurer Medibank and telco Optus over the loss of customer data in hacking incidents arguably the highest profile matters lodged with the court at the moment.
There are also several matters lodged against automobile manufacturers, while the underpayment of staff is also fertile ground for class action litigants.
News Corp Australia has compiled a searchable database of all of the class actions which are currently on the docket at the federal court.
Law firm Slater and Gordon is behind the Optus action, which is seeking compensation on behalf of the telco’s customers whose data was stolen in a cyberattack.
About 10 million current and former customers were affected, and Slater and Gordon has signed up more than 100,000 members as part of its case.
The firm is alleging that Optus failed to protect customers’ personal information from unauthorised access, failed to destroy or de-identify personal information, and failed to ensure that only those who had a legitimate reason for having access to customers’ personal information could access it.
Optus is defending the action.
Slater and Gordon has also lodged an action against Medibank, which refused to pay Russian hackers a $15m ransom, leading to the criminals publishing customer claim data for sensitive conditions – including abortions, drug and alcohol abuse, and mental health disorders – on the dark web.
Medibank has said it will defend the proceedings.
While both of these claims have already been lodged, under Australian law, class actions are run on an opt-out basis, meaning those affected by the matters have their rights protected under the claim unless they opt out.
Customers who believe they might be part of the affected class can generally sign up via a law firm’s website.
Class actions need to be lodged on behalf of a “class” of at least seven claimants, with a lead claimant or claimants used to demonstrate the merits of a case.
Slater and Gordon says that members of the Optus action include: a domestic violence victim who spent money that was intended for counselling for her children on increasing security measures around the house; a former Optus customer who had previously been burgled and had his identity stolen who now suffers severe anxiety after learning his personal information had been shared online, and; a stalking victim who takes extreme measures to maintain her privacy, especially her address, who fears her life has genuinely been put in danger by the data breach.
With large class actions there is also generally no cost to the individual involved, with firms running the matters on a “no-win, no fee basis”, or funding the process using a company called a litigation funder, which will bankroll a case in return for a share of the settlement or damages awarded.
Slater and Gordon alone has 25 class actions filed or planned, and other major firms such Maurice Blackburn and Banton Group also have several on foot and in the wings.
Maurice Blackburn filed a representative complaint to the Office of the Information Commissioner in relation to the 2022 Optus hack in October last year, and has several ongoing actions against ASX-listed companies including BHP, Boral and AMP.
Maurice Blackburn is also running the Roundup class action against Monsanto which kicked off in the Federal Court last week, and which is expected to run for several weeks.
This action is being run on behalf of about 800 class members against Monsanto “on behalf of all people who have been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma due to using or being exposed to Roundup or Monsanto-branded herbicide products that contained glyphosate (Roundup Products) within Australia’’ the firm says.
The Qantas class action was filed recently by Echo Law and pertains to people who received travel credits or vouchers - with significant restrictions attached - instead of a full cash refund when the airline cancelled flights due to Covid-19 Travel restrictions.
The Allergan matter is still in the investigations phase, with AJB Stevens Lawyers considering a class action into defective breast implants made by the company.
Major class action settlements in the past include the Federal Government’s $112m Robodebt settlement, and the record $494m payout to victims of the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria.
Globally, the largest class action to date was the $US206bn payout awarded against Phillip Morris and three other tobacco companies, to be paid over 25 years in what is known as the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement.
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