MONTHLY GROUP ACTION NEWS
September Roundup: Group Action News
From new Scottish laws to lessons from the next generation, we look at the cases in the news this month.
Back to school, back to work are the usual September mantras, but not this year. In what has become A-typical for 2020, September will likely be remembered for stressful situations, monumental government u-turns and 10pm curfew memes.
September 2020 will also be remembered as the first time in history a woman lay in state in the United States Capitol. That woman was legendary Ruth Bader Ginsburg, otherwise known as The Notorious RBG.
We say goodbye to a true icon of our time.
Described as a titan of justice, RBG was a life-long campaigner and advocate for equal rights. She tirelessly fought against discrimination and was instrumental in changing US law to make society fairer for all.
“I don’t say women’s rights — I say the constitutional principle of the equal citizenship stature of men and women.”
Group action news this month
Austrian ski resorts come under fire for COVID-19 negligence.
A staggering 6,000 holidaymakers have joined together to launch a lawsuit against Austrian ski resorts. They claim the resorts were slow to respond to the virus and that closures were delayed for commercial reasons. Thus resulting in high rates of infection.
The group mainly consists of German tourists, joined by 200 Brits. Their representatives, VSV Consumer Association, are pushing forward with four test cases. Read more here.
The next generation takes a stand against climate change.
Once again, world leaders have been put to shame by young activists as six Portuguese youth launch unprecedented legal action against 33 countries. They claim that inadequate emissions cuts and failures to combat climate change violate their human rights. It comes after scientists linked lethal wildfires that killed more than 120 people in Portugal in 2017 to global warming.
“I am afraid for my future,” youth applicant Mota (20) told reporters. “I live with the feeling that every year my home becomes a more hostile place”.
It is the first climate change case to be filed with the European Court of Human Rights and if won, could pave the way for more climate lawsuits based on human rights arguments. Funded through crowdfunding, their representative from Global Legal Action Network (GLAN), Gerry Liston said the case could;
“exert a significant level of pressure on governments in Europe to adopt emissions reductions that science demands”.
Read more about the story here.
Group actions now permitted in Scottish courts.
Last month new legislation in Scotland will enable individuals with the same, similar or related claims to pursue court processings by way of a single action. This is fantastic news for Scottish claimants who otherwise would struggle to litigate on their own due to expensive and burdensome procedures.
But how quickly we see the new mechanism being adopted in Scottish courts may inevitably be determined by the speed at which solicitors and litigation funders become involved in these types of cases. In other jurisdictions, including England and Wales, group claims have been notoriously lucrative to these parties, and as such, we anticipate a fast move into this market.
Additionally, the new rules will bring Scotland in line with an increasing number of countries expanding their own ‘class action’ procedures at a time when a new EU group claims law moves closer.
The largest hack in corporate history leads to representative action.
In what the Financial Times described as “one of the largest hacks in corporate history” one man is bringing a claim against Marriott International for loss of control of his and millions of others personal data. Between 2014 to 2018, Marriott suffered a significant data breach that exposed the information of some 500 million guests around the world.
Martin Bryant, the man behind the action said his motivation for launching the claim was:
It’s become a depressingly familiar situation. You get an email from a company telling you that they’ve suffered a data breach and your personal information was stolen. You sigh, you shrug, and then you forget about it — because you’re powerless. You can’t get that personal data back. It might end up being used for identity theft or fraud, and there’s nothing you can do about it.
But the fact is there should be recompense. If a major corporation suffers a breach because it didn’t do everything it could to protect your data, and the worst it suffers is a fine for breaking data protection rules, there’s little incentive for anything to really change. But if the company becomes accountable to the customers whose data they lost, it’s a different matter.
The claim is being brought as a representative action and is fully funded by Harbour Litigation Funding, a global litigation funder. You can read more about the case here.
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