Tel Aviv District Court Judge Shoshana Almagor has approved a class action lawsuit against the largest and leading performance corporation in Israel, the Zappa Group, for failing to return money to its clients for canceled and postponed performances since the beginning of the Corona crisis in March 2020 until today.
The lawsuit against Zappa and the request to recognize it as a class action lawsuit were filed by attorneys Yuval Etzioni and Eldad Pessi of Etzioni, Pessi & Co., on behalf of Noa Guetta, who held several tickets to several Zappa appearances. The Zappa Group does not intend to return money for the tickets it purchased for canceled or postponed performances.
“Zappa allegedly violated the obligation to reimburse by virtue of the laws of contracts”
Judge Almagor ruled in her decision to approve the class action lawsuit that the Zappa Group will pay a high fee of NIS 150,000 plus VAT and in addition will publish a number of ads at the expense of several newspapers in order to bring to the public’s attention the class action lawsuit.
In her decision, Judge Almagor sharply criticized Zappa and wrote that “the petitioner showed that there is reason to believe that Zappa did not act in good faith in the performance of the contract, when she did not fulfill the obligations imposed on her in the contract and the obligation to return.” The judge added, “Allegedly, Zappa violated the duty of restitution under the contract laws. There is a reasonable possibility that the lawsuit will be decided in favor of the group and that Zappa became rich due to an illegal act.”
In addition, the judge ruled that Zappa raised various factual allegations in her response casually and without supporting them with any evidence, such as her claim that most ticket buyers prefer to wait for a replacement show in the future and are not interested in returning their money paid, or allegations And paid advances to artists. The court ruled that in the absence of data there is great doubt as to whether Zappa’s allegations are true that she suffered economic damages and that she and her dependents will collapse if she is required to return the money.
As part of the legal proceedings, which took place for nearly two years, the parties also conducted an unsuccessful mediation. Judge Almagor noted in the decision that “in the summaries on behalf of Zappa, very many factual statements were woven for which no evidence was presented, and this should be condemned. Submitting summaries in this way is not appropriate.”
“Zappa has deliberately refrained from returning money to tens of thousands of its customers”
In the absence of the plaintiff’s power, Adv. Yuval Etzioni and Adv. Eldad Pessi They said that “this is an important decision that protects Zappa’s customers from a bad-hearted and manipulative performance corporation that has rudely trampled on the rights of its customers throughout the Corona crisis. And the solution she offered did not provide an answer, hurting customers and extorting their money. “
They added that “in its decision, the court expressed its displeasure that almost two years had passed since the date when the shows were supposed to take place and the majority of the group had not yet returned the money paid for the tickets. This situation is unreasonable, disproportionate and unacceptable.”