SYDNEY law firm Somerville Legal this week claimed “two major victories” in its long-running court battle with Scenic Tours Pty Limited. One of the cases relates to European river cruise departures in 2013, which were impacted by heavy rain and flooding causing changes to itineraries planned for the Rhine, Danube,...
SYDNEY law firm Somerville Legal this week claimed “two major victories” in its long-running court battle with Scenic Tours Pty Limited.
One of the cases relates to European river cruise departures in 2013, which were impacted by heavy rain and flooding causing changes to itineraries planned for the Rhine, Danube, Saone and Rhone rivers.
Somerville Legal launched a class action, and two years ago the NSW Supreme Court ruled in favour of lead plaintiff David Moore, ruling he was entitled to a full refund plus $2,000 in damages (CW 05 Sep 2017).
However, that was not the end of the matter, with a series of appeals and counter-appeals ensuing, and ongoing arguments about the damages payable including a ruling that in the original decision the judges had “made an error in awarding a full refund” (CW 25 Oct 2018).
In the most recent update, on 13 Sep 2019 the High Court of Australia dismissed Scenic’s application for special leave to appeal a 2018 decision of the NSW Court of Appeal.
The High Court has also granted special leave to the lead plaintiff, giving him the opportunity to argue that he and other passengers should be entitled to additional damages for their “distress and disappointment”.
Somerville Legal has also launched a separate class action in relation to cruises impacted by low water levels in 2018, with the Supreme Court of NSW ordering Scenic to hand over documents relating to 47 departures after finding passengers “may be entitled to a claim for relief”.
Scenic noted that no guests had come forward in relation to a class action for weather conditions in 2018, and was reviewing its right to appeal the decision.
