Were you affected by the Equine Influenza Outbreak? If so we can help you!
Thursday, 4th August, 2011 - Dispute Resolution and Commercial Litigation, Equine Influenza Class Action, General
The outbreak of Equine Influenza in August 2007 saw devastation throughout the thoroughbred racing and breeding industry.
This did not only affect the owners of racehorses but many businesses indirectly. Equestrian photographers, produce store proprietors, stallion and broodmare owners, transport companies, trainers, non-thoroughbred breeders, and various associations of people who work in the industry were also affected.
We have clients that have lost everything from this outbreak. We know firsthand how it has impacted on the industry. Jeff Garrett the Practice Director here at Attwood Marshall has been affected by this disaster.
Jeff is a commercial breeder and had 4 broodmares stranded on his own broodmare farm in Queensland. He also had 3 racehorses in work in Brisbane who were also affected by the restrictions.
“I know exactly what people are going through given my own involvement in the industry. This gives me a great insight into the problems that the people in the thoroughbred industry are facing”.
As the matter stands now we have been running the class action since 2007 and have a strong test case running through the Queensland Supreme Court. The Plaintiff in our test case has lost more than 3 million dollars as a result of the EI outbreak. While this test case is running all of the clients that have registered their interest will be “waiting in the wings” for the outcome.
It is our view that the Government has clearly breached its duty of care to the members of the various equine industries in Australia. Although there are some complex legal issues surrounding the duty of care owed by the Government to the participants in the industry and the various losses suffered by claimants, we believe there is a strong moral duty on the part of the Government to compensate the losses suffered by people whose livelihood depended upon the industry.
If the test case is successful, compensation to the people and businesses affected by the equine influenza outbreak could extend to some 60 million dollars.
We have a directions hearing set in the Supreme Court in the coming months which will serve to shape the progress of the test case proceedings. Whilst we will endeavour to have the proceedings finalised by the expiry of the limitation period, being August 2013 we cannot provide guarantees that this will be the case. Should the test case proceedings extend beyond August 2013 without a final order being made, people and business with potential claims not already registered with us may be locked out of bringing any action for damages by reason of the expiry of the limitation period. We urge everyone who had suffered loss to register as part of the class action no matter how small the claim may seem.
If you may know of anyone that may have been a victim of the Equine Influenza Outbreak you can also have them complete our online questionnaire and we will register their interest in the class.
If you are already registered with the class and may have changed your contact details or email address, please also complete our questionnaire.
http://www.attwoodmarshall.com.au/ei-class-action-questionnaire/