Why are more people suing businesses?
Business Daily
BBC
4.4 • 816 Ratings
🗓️ 10 March 2026
⏱️ 18 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
From humble beginnings in England in the 12th century, to landmark civil rights court cases in the US in the 1960s, class actions are now rarely out of the headlines.
They’re a means of bringing together large groups of people – sometimes millions – under the umbrella of a collective claim for damages.
Their popularity has spread from the US back to Europe and beyond, which is becoming a concern for businesses fearful of finding themselves in multi-million-dollar litigation cases. Now, there are growing calls for legislation to curb their rise.
If you'd like to get in touch with the programme, our email address is businessdaily@bbc.co.uk
Presenter: Ed Butler Producer: Craig Henderson
Business Daily is the home of in-depth audio journalism devoted to the world of money and work. From small startup stories to big corporate takeovers, global economic shifts to trends in technology, we look at the key figures, ideas and events shaping business.
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(Picture: High angle view of lawyers researching at a table in a board room. Credit: Getty Images)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:07.2 | Hi there, I'm Ed Butler and welcome to Business Daily from the BBC World Service. |
| 0:12.9 | Today we're delving into the global court system, charting the seemingly unstoppable rise of the multi-billion dollar business of class actions. |
| 0:23.3 | Dozens, hundreds, sometimes millions of people are collectively fighting a legal claim these |
| 0:29.2 | days for redress against the big and the powerful, and they're holding businesses to account |
| 0:35.0 | when they step out of line. But in the end, is it the claimants or the lawyers making the big money from this surge in class action lawsuits? |
| 0:44.5 | There's nothing wrong with making a lot of money if the way you're making it is to do good for people. |
| 0:51.4 | We're not trying to block people from being heard and being compensated. |
| 0:56.8 | What we don't think is that litigation is the answer to these questions. |
| 1:02.9 | Using civil law to bring civil justice. |
| 1:06.2 | But is it really benefiting the consumer? |
| 1:08.7 | Business Daily from the BBC World Service. |
| 1:14.2 | Disney has agreed to fork over more than $230 million in back pay to tens of thousands of |
| 1:21.3 | employees. A major UK legal claim has been filed against Johnson and Johnson involving |
| 1:26.5 | approximately 3,000 claimants |
| 1:28.6 | who allege they developed cancers. |
| 1:30.3 | Major carmakers accused of misleading motorists over emissions based legal questions as diesel |
| 1:36.0 | gates opens at the High Court. |
| 1:37.8 | Big companies everywhere seem to be grappling with all kinds of complaints. |
| 1:42.5 | Class or mass action court battles typically happen when a group of |
| 1:47.2 | people get together to raise a common grievance. One person's name is put forward, the court |
| 1:52.3 | rules over the merits of the case and the ruling is applied to all the rest. Or a group of people |
... |
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