Law firm Phi Finney McDonald has advised that it may pursue a class action against the Victorian government over the bungled hotel quarantine program.
The firm’s MD Ben Phi says it has been approached by a number of businesses about a class action.
Premier Daniel Andrews has acknowledged that the state’s second wave of COVID-19 infections was primarily due to the hotel quarantine program. Professor Ian Ramsay from the Centre for Corporate Law says class actions against governments are relatively rare but are becoming more common:
The firm, Phi Finney and McDonald, said it had fielded inquiries by companies that have been hit hard during the second wave of coronavirus and associated lockdowns.
Managing director Ben Phi said that lawyers were now investigating the prospect of taking on the state government, which had “acknowledged that mistakes were made”.
“The evidence suggests that quarantine failures led to the second wave and all of the devastating personal and financial consequences that have followed,” he said…
“We have been approached by Victorian businesses who are interested in pursuing a class action. We are investigating the situation and following the evidence as it unfolds in the inquiry.”
The problem is that ambulance chasing actions don’t harvest ‘free’ money. The windfall has to come from somewhere, and that somewhere is Victorian taxpayers.
