Mass Tort brief
Banks Face Checking Account Liability as Mass Torts Mount
Israeli courts advance multi-billion-shekel banking and consumer class actions while the Knesset moves to shield small businesses.
Mass Tort
Lod District Court certified a class action against Israel's big four banks — exposing them to over NIS 5B in liability for withholding interest on retail checking accounts.
BackgroundThe Bank of Israel raised its benchmark interest rate aggressively starting in April 2022 to combat inflation, allowing lenders to charge steep borrowing costs. However, commercial banks kept interest paid on positive retail checking accounts near zero, pocketing massive net interest income.
- Economic expert testimony submitted to the court calculates aggregate consumer damages between NIS 3.6B and NIS 5.1B, with total liability potential exceeding NIS 15B.
- Judge Bornstein ruled that capturing the entire monetary spread without crediting depositor funds may legally constitute unjust enrichment.
- The four commercial bank defendants maintained that no statutory directive mandates checking account interest and are preparing an appeal to the Supreme Court.
Mass Tort
Approval of a $96.5M generic price-fixing deal clears codefendants — leaving Teva as the primary target in multi-state drug price conspiracy litigation.
BackgroundAttorneys General across dozens of US states filed sweeping antitrust lawsuits alleging systematic price-fixing conspiracies among generic drug manufacturers between 2009 and 2019. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries was accused of serving as the primary institutional coordinator of generic price stabilization.
- The approved $96.5M settlement resolves consumer overcharge claims against Glenmark, Apotex, and Lannett while establishing a public restitution fund.
- Teva remains named as the primary institutional corporate defendant in the multi-state coalition's overarching second master complaint.
- Unresolved generic price-fixing multi-district litigation and end-payer class suits represent an ongoing multi-hundred-million-dollar contingency on Teva's balance sheet.
Mass Tort
Osher Ad faces a multi-million-shekel class action over missing price tags — reinforcing strict statutory liability for retail supermarkets under consumer protection laws.
BackgroundThe Israeli Consumer Protection Law strictly mandates that all retail commercial outlets clearly display item prices on product packaging or designated shelf labels. Consumer rights attorneys regularly utilize class action mechanisms to penalize supermarket chains for inaccurate or missing shelf pricing.
- The certification lawsuit alleges that Osher Ad branches systematically omitted price labels on bulk consumer goods and food products.
- Osher Ad argued in legal filings that class action mechanisms are being weaponized for economic extortion against competitive discount retailers.
- The supermarket chain previously settled similar class action claims concerning government price-controlled egg carton overcharges.
Mass Tort
Bituach Leumi is paying court-ordered refunds for unlawful administrative copy fees — reaffirming that public welfare agencies cannot bill citizens without explicit statutory backing.
BackgroundUnder Israeli administrative law, public government authorities are strictly restricted from levying administrative service fees unless explicitly authorized by primary legislation. Bituach Leumi charged citizens administrative copying fees at Jerusalem district branches between 2020 and 2026.
- Eligible citizens can claim NIS 25 per instance plus statutory CPI indexation for file copying fees collected without statutory authority.
- Claimants must submit restitution applications via the Bituach Leumi personal online digital interface before the November 22 deadline.
- The class settlement enforces strict legal constraints on public welfare institutions charging unauthorized bureaucratic fees to citizens.
Mass Tort
Mass Tort
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