In a significant decision on the statutory hurdles facing unregistered enterprise unions applying for federal registration, a FWC full bench has confirmed that assessing an association's membership is confined to "actual flesh and blood members" rather than any prospective members allowed under its rules.
UPDATED A High Court majority has clarified that a 115-year-old UK House of Lords decision does not bar the recovery of damages for botched sackings, restoring the award of $1.44 million to a consultant unable to work since his "sham" dismissal in 2015.
A Federal Court judge has cast doubt over a manager's $1.5 million adverse action payout in a ruling highlighting the difficulty in establishing who in large corporations ultimately makes the decision to dismiss an employee.
A presidential member placed too much emphasis on two workers' failure to chase up their unfair dismissal applications, a FWC full bench has ruled, finding the representative's miscalculation of the due date responsible for the whole delay.
The PSA has lost its challenge to a NSW IRC decision said to have "wide ranging" implications for union delegates using workplace emails to communicate with union lawyers, with a special constable facing dismissal for disclosing confidential information to inform its application for a new award.
A federal court full bench has remitted a case for retrial after a judge facing impending retirement reproduced "significant" portions of a worker's submissions without attribution in an adverse action case and failed to "bring an independent mind" to his determination.
The ACCC has told the High Court that if a full court's ruling on alleged anti-competitive conduct by the CFMEU is allowed to stand, unions will be able pressure businesses into boycotting goods or service suppliers so long as the threatened corporation does not expressly confirm its collusion.
A FWC full bench has upheld the reinstatement of a Sydney Trains employee found to have traces of cocaine in his system, despite ruling that a senior member wrongly concluded that employers need to establish workers who fail drug and alcohol tests are at risk of being "impaired" before sacking them.
A full Federal Court has found Qube Ports lacked standing to retrospectively vary expired agreements, clearing the way for the CFMEU's maritime division to pursue the stevedoring giant for millions in allegedly wrongly-deducted "gap" payments from up to 1000 wharfies' remuneration.
In a case highlighting the need for employers to precisely identify decision-makers when defending adverse action matters, the Federal Court has expanded an academic's claim after accepting that a judge failed to "isolate" who at a leading university was responsible for making allegations of serious misconduct.
