Mass Tort brief
UK Collective Actions Press Market Monopolies and Miners
London courts advance historic group litigation against Rightmove, BHP, and regional water monopolies while auto and consumer health defendants navigate damages phases.
Mass Tort
The High Court rejected BHP's attempt to delay the £36B Mariana dam case — keeping the largest mass tort in English history on track for an April 2027 damages trial.
BackgroundThe collapse of the Fundão tailings dam in 2015 destroyed entire villages in Minas Gerais, Brazil, killing 19 people and unleashing toxic mining sludge across hundreds of miles of waterways. The English courts established jurisdiction over BHP Group PLC, ruling the multinational strictly liable under Brazilian environmental law as an indirect polluter.
- The High Court resolved internal legal representation disputes between claimant counsel without granting BHP's request for procedural delays, ensuring trial preparations proceed uninterrupted.
- BHP argued ongoing municipal compensation negotiations in Brazil should supersede English proceedings, a defense the court dismissed to maintain judicial momentum toward full compensation.
- The litigation remains the largest mass tort action ever mounted in English legal history, carrying systemic financial implications for London's mining sector and global corporate liability standards.
Mass Tort
The Supreme Court will decide whether hiding sewage spills constitutes illegal market abuse — threatening Britain's strained water monopolies with £1.5B in customer rebates.
BackgroundOpt-out collective proceedings under the Competition Act 1998 allow consumers to seek aggregate damages for corporate abuse of dominance. English water companies have argued that statutory regulation under the Water Industry Act 1991 precludes customers from bringing independent competition claims before the courts.
- Professor Carolyn Roberts is leading the collective action on behalf of millions of affected households seeking rebates for illegal sewage discharges into public waterways, bypassing stalled regulatory enforcement.
- The Supreme Court hearing will establish whether environmental non-disclosure to regulators can be prosecuted as anti-competitive customer overcharging, creating a novel statutory avenue for green mass torts.
- A judgment favoring claimants would expose financially distressed regional water monopolies to severe aggregate restitution liabilities, complicating ongoing utility restructuring and recapitalization efforts.
Mass Tort
Rightmove failed to get the £1.5B portal fee claim thrown out — leaving the tribunal to decide whether thousands of high-street agents can sue collectively without upfront legal costs.
BackgroundThe Consumer Rights Act 2015 created the UK's opt-out collective proceedings regime in the Competition Appeal Tribunal, allowing class representatives to sue on behalf of affected businesses without signing up individual claimants. Rightmove controls the vast majority of UK digital property listings, making portal access essential for estate agents.
- Former CMA panel member Jeremy Newman is leading the collective action representing approximately 13,000 independent high-street property firms, seeking compensation for alleged monopoly overcharging.
- Rightmove did not seek to strike out the suit, focusing its legal defence on restricting the claim to an opt-in model that would exclude smaller independent estate agents.
- A decision certifying the claim as opt-out would establish one of the largest commercial competition damages actions in British legal history, intensifying fee pressures on digital platform monopolies.
Mass Tort
Mercedes has run out of procedural road in the UK diesel scandal — heading into a dedicated damages trial that could establish compensation formulas across millions of vehicles.
BackgroundThe Pan-NOx group litigation represents hundreds of thousands of UK vehicle owners suing auto manufacturers over software calibrations that lowered emissions during regulatory testing while releasing higher nitrogen oxides on the road. The High Court previously ruled that certain engine devices breached UK consumer protection regulations.
- Lady Justice Cockerill adopted a narrow construction of prohibited defeat devices that cleared Ford and Nissan while confirming statutory liability for Mercedes, splitting automaker exposures across the docket.
- Automotive manufacturers appeared in court to contest costs and argue permissions to appeal the determination that EU regulations grant individuals an enforceable private right of action.
- A high-profile damages award against Mercedes would set binding judicial compensation formulas for hundreds of thousands of parallel UK diesel vehicle claims, accelerating settlement talks across the industry.
Mass Tort
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