Following a landmark court victory that awarded nearly $100,000 to a festivalgoer unlawfully strip-searched at Splendour in the Grass, Slater & Gordon is now setting its sights on a new class action against NSW Police for similar alleged misconduct.
Slater & Gordon Lawyers has revealed it is investigating a second potential class action into alleged unlawful strip searches carried out by NSW Police.
The move follows a landmark Supreme Court ruling earlier this month that awarded Raya Meredith $93,000 in damages after she was unlawfully strip-searched at the 2018 Splendour in the Grass music festival.
The court heard that the then 27-year-old had no criminal record and had never been in police custody for any reason. Despite this, she was subjected to what Justice Dina Yehia described as “humiliating treatment while at a total loss of liberty.”
Meredith told the court that during the search, she was ordered to remove her tampon and show it to a female officer before being instructed to lift and expose parts of her body and bend over.
During the search, a male officer reportedly entered the cubicle while she was naked and bent over, leaving Meredith feeling “angry and in disbelief” and saying the experience made her feel as though she “wanted to vomit”.
Ultimately, no drugs were found on Meredith.
Justice Yehia found that the officer’s actions went “far beyond” what was objectively necessary for the search, describing the experience Meredith endured as exceeding the lawful powers of the police.
The ruling follows a class action launched by national law firm Slater & Gordon in July 2022 on behalf of Meredith, which has since expanded to include hundreds of others alleging they were unlawfully strip-searched by police between 2016 and 2022.
William Zerno, senior associate in class actions at Slater & Gordon, confirmed the firm is now investigating a new class action targeting unlawful strip searches by NSW Police beyond music festivals, extending to other public locations.
“As a result of the judgment, Slater and Gordon is now investigating a second class action into any unlawful strip searches – not just at music festivals – that were conducted by the NSW Police on their suspicion of drug possession, in locations other than police stations,” Zerno said.
Recognising the far-reaching implications of the Supreme Court ruling on the legality of police strip searches across NSW, Zerno encouraged anyone who was subjected to a strip search in the past six years under similar circumstances to come forward and join the class action.
“Now that the Supreme Court has found that strip searches may be unlawful if they are based on the mere suspicion of drug possession or a police drug dog indication, this means strip searches undertaken in other settings may also have been unlawful,” Zerno said.
“You may be a group member in a new claim if you were strip-searched by the NSW Police in the last six years under circumstances where the Police stated they believed you had illegal drugs on you.
“If so, we encourage you to visit our webpage to subscribe for updates.”
