Vocation class action

About this class action

In August 2015, Maurice Blackburn, with funding from International Litigation Funding Partners (ILFP), filed a class action against Vocation Limited (ASX:VET) on behalf of persons who acquired Vocation shares in the period between 27 November 2013 and 4 December 2014 (inclusive). Subsequently, Vocation’s former auditor (PricewaterhouseCoopers) and certain of its former directors, namely Mark Hutchinson, John Dawkins and Manvinder Gréwal, were added as respondents to the proceeding.

In March 2017, the proceeding was consolidated with an overlapping class action commenced by Slater and Gordon, with funding from Omni Bridgeway Ltd. The class action ultimately settled after more than five years of litigation, with the Federal Court approving the settlement on 23 July 2021.

Settlement approval

On 30 November 2021, the parties to the class action announced that they had reached an agreement to settle the Vocation Class Action. Under the agreement, the Respondents and Cross-Respondents will pay a total of $50 million, inclusive of interest and costs, to settle the claims of group members in the Vocation Class Action. This agreement was subject to approval by the Federal Court of Australia.

We are pleased to advise that, following evidence prepared and filed by the Applicant in support of the application for approval of the settlement, his Honour Justice Anastassiou of the Federal Court of Australia made orders on 23 July 2021 approving the settlement of the proceeding, having found that the settlement is fair and reasonable and in the interests of Group Members as a whole, and having regard to the claims made on behalf of Group Members who will be bound by the settlement. A copy of the judgment and the orders is available for download on this website (see “Key documents” below).

Accordingly, the settlement sum will henceforth be distributed in accordance with the Settlement Distribution Scheme.

Slater and Gordon and Maurice Blackburn have been appointed jointly as Administrators of the Settlement Distribution Scheme.

Group Members who registered their claims in the Vocation Class Action will be contacted in due course to provide details to facilitate the distribution of their entitlements.

Key documents