The future of Australia’s largest fridge seal replacement franchise is in jeopardy after a court ruling that it acted unconscionably in charging its franchisees an extra $25 a week nine years ago.
The ruling, in the Federal Court at Brisbane, has left the franchise’s owner reeling with an expected legal bill for hundreds of thousands of dollars in a case bought by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
While Nigel Rooney admits he did wrong, he has questioned why he must pay for a court case that the watchdog dropped large parts of at the last minute after two years of litigation.
Mr Rooney claims the ruling is likely to send him bankrupt, for a case he offered to settle – including admitting guilt for claims the ACCC later failed to prove – before it went to trial. Read more.
