Announcement on the commencement of group proceedings
Pursuant to the Polish Act on Pursuing Claims in Group Proceedings, group proceedings were opened before the Regional Court, to the statement of claims of (…) Ltd in W. against (…) joint-stock company in W., file ref. no. XVI GC 352/15. (…) Ltd, as the representative of the group, for damages with statutory interest for each of the group members. The claimant indicated that she represented a group composed of insurance agents who pursue their claims arisen from the defendant’s activity being an advertising campaign conducted in 2008 which breached rules of fair competition by means of discouraging clients from using the services of insurance agents.
In the judgment dated 8th January 2010 (file ref. no. XVI GC 554/08), the Regional Court in Warsaw concluded that these commercials infringe upon the rules of fair competition and thus imposed a ban on broadcasting them. The claimant claimed that as a result of the advertising campaign many insurance agents suffered damages because of a drastic decrease in clients’ interest, this being the reason of loss of profits.
Each person whose claim can be included in the class action, can join the group by submitting a written declaration within 2 months of the publishing of this announcement – to the representative of the group – (…) Ltd in W., address for service: (…)
Joining the group after the given date is inadmissible.
Submitting such a declaration is equivalent to granting consent to (…) Ltd acting as the representative of the group and to the rules of the representative’s remuneration, which is 20 % of the total amount awarded from (…) joint-stock company to (…) Ltd in a judgment or in a settlement.
A legally valid judgment is binding on all the group members, meaning all the persons who submitted a declaration on joining the group before the deadline and thus were indicated in the court’s decision on establishing the group’s composition.
Maria Zgiet – Zawadzka, Regional Court Judge