3 ms·

Can't some shady legal firm now just dig out who is in the exact same situation as this user, and sue on behalf of them, keeping (say) 10%? I'd be happy to let

Can't some shady legal firm now just dig out who is in the exact same situation as this user, and sue on behalf of them, keeping (say) 10%? I'd be happy to let them. But in the end this kind of thing shouldn't be regulated by lawsuits from individuals. The fines as I remember it can be up to 4% global annual revenue and it's about time someone actually handed a fine of 4% global annual revenue to a company the size of Meta, so companies finally realize that the law isn't just a recommendation.

veunes 1y ago
Yeah, class action-style suits are probably coming, especially now that this ruling sets a precedent
- ekunazanu 1y ago
  AFAIK Germany (and most European countries) has civil law, so court rulings probably won't have as much of an impact as it would in countries like the US
  - oblio 1y ago
    > AFAIK Germany (and most European countries) has civil law Most of the world, actually. Pure common law systems are just in CANZUKUS (and a few dozen of other minuscule former British colonies).
    - adw 1y ago
      Not even all of the UK. Scotland is a hybrid system.
  - alkonaut 1y ago
    Once it reaches the highest court, it will set precedent. So there is no real difference in the end it just takes more time because no precedent is set in a lower court.
pedro_caetano 1y ago
My understanding is that there is no 1-to-1 European equivalent to class action lawsuits in the USA. There is a EU directive that allows for "representative action" but it's much narrower scope compared to what Americans are familiar with in class action.
- Garlef 1y ago
  Yes. But there's law firms who streamline such individual processes if the business case is actually large enough. For example there's a law that says the airline needs to pay you 400€(?) if your flight is delayed by more than 2h if it's due to the airlines fault. There's a company that handles these cases for 130€. That's 270€ you get and you just need to enter some data.
  - SSLy 1y ago
    or you can enter the same data into form provided by the airline. I did it once to SN and they paid up just fine.
    - idkfasayer 1y ago
      [dead]
    - FirmwareBurner 1y ago
      Not my experience. Airlines BS you on why your flight delay or cancellation was legit so you need to take the legal route as they wipe their ass with your complaints.
      - Symbiote 1y ago
        I've done it twice and was paid the compensation, but both times were normal airlines, not budget carriers.
      - cycomanic 1y ago
        I used to fly out out GBG which only has few flights to the intercontinental hubs per day. So it happened to me quite frequently that my incoming intercontinental flight was late by 1.5h which resulted in a 5-7h delay because I missed the connection. That entitles you to 600 euros. After my first 2 trips I quickly learned that for flights into Europe it's only European airlines that have to pay those fines (outbound flights it's everyone). I probably collected around between 4k-6k euros because it happened so often. I never used one of the "collection agencies", because it's an incredibly easy process to do yourself. Yes some airlines try to wiggle out of it, but you just threaten them with going to arbitration (I think that's what it was? I've moved away from Europe several years ago), and show that you know the rules and they quickly let up, because IIRC they get fined (not just your compensation) if they get found to be in the wrong.
lauritz 1y ago
There are (non-shady) firms that do exactly this for other areas (flight compensation, most notably). There are some issues with contingency fees in German legal professional law. However, it can be argued that suing for these 5,000 EUR is just "collections", so it may be allowed. The risk lies elsewhere: As I outlined in another comment, there is reason to believe that this may not stand on appeal, or at least that other courts in other parts of Germany may decide differently. As a result, it takes a lot of capital to keep all of these lawsuits going until the Federal Court of Justice or the ECJ have decided and there is legal certainty.

veunes 1y ago

Yeah, class action-style suits are probably coming, especially now that this ruling sets a precedent

ekunazanu 1y ago
AFAIK Germany (and most European countries) has civil law, so court rulings probably won't have as much of an impact as it would in countries like the US
- oblio 1y ago
  > AFAIK Germany (and most European countries) has civil law Most of the world, actually. Pure common law systems are just in CANZUKUS (and a few dozen of other minuscule former British colonies).
  - adw 1y ago
    Not even all of the UK. Scotland is a hybrid system.
- alkonaut 1y ago
  Once it reaches the highest court, it will set precedent. So there is no real difference in the end it just takes more time because no precedent is set in a lower court.

pedro_caetano 1y ago

My understanding is that there is no 1-to-1 European equivalent to class action lawsuits in the USA. There is a EU directive that allows for "representative action" but it's much narrower scope compared to what Americans are familiar with in class action.

Garlef 1y ago
Yes. But there's law firms who streamline such individual processes if the business case is actually large enough. For example there's a law that says the airline needs to pay you 400€(?) if your flight is delayed by more than 2h if it's due to the airlines fault. There's a company that handles these cases for 130€. That's 270€ you get and you just need to enter some data.
- SSLy 1y ago
  or you can enter the same data into form provided by the airline. I did it once to SN and they paid up just fine.
  - idkfasayer 1y ago
    [dead]
  - FirmwareBurner 1y ago
    Not my experience. Airlines BS you on why your flight delay or cancellation was legit so you need to take the legal route as they wipe their ass with your complaints.
    - Symbiote 1y ago
      I've done it twice and was paid the compensation, but both times were normal airlines, not budget carriers.
    - cycomanic 1y ago
      I used to fly out out GBG which only has few flights to the intercontinental hubs per day. So it happened to me quite frequently that my incoming intercontinental flight was late by 1.5h which resulted in a 5-7h delay because I missed the connection. That entitles you to 600 euros. After my first 2 trips I quickly learned that for flights into Europe it's only European airlines that have to pay those fines (outbound flights it's everyone). I probably collected around between 4k-6k euros because it happened so often. I never used one of the "collection agencies", because it's an incredibly easy process to do yourself. Yes some airlines try to wiggle out of it, but you just threaten them with going to arbitration (I think that's what it was? I've moved away from Europe several years ago), and show that you know the rules and they quickly let up, because IIRC they get fined (not just your compensation) if they get found to be in the wrong.

lauritz 1y ago

There are (non-shady) firms that do exactly this for other areas (flight compensation, most notably). There are some issues with contingency fees in German legal professional law. However, it can be argued that suing for these 5,000 EUR is just "collections", so it may be allowed. The risk lies elsewhere: As I outlined in another comment, there is reason to believe that this may not stand on appeal, or at least that other courts in other parts of Germany may decide differently. As a result, it takes a lot of capital to keep all of these lawsuits going until the Federal Court of Justice or the ECJ have decided and there is legal certainty.