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.
A full Federal Court has overturned a ruling that Sydney Trains unlawfully discriminated against a trainee driver it sacked for failing to disclose that she had ADHD and autism, finding a judge relied on a "number of interrelated assumptions" unsupported by evidence.
Mining giant Peabody has won special leave from the High Court to challenge a full Federal Court finding that it did not genuinely make workers redundant when it failed to consider whether it could redeploy workers to jobs performed by contractors.
In a case that weighs up employer rights when conducting investigations under commonly-used agreement provisions, a FWC full bench has rejected a worker's request for an investigation report that details his alleged misconduct, but has suggested the employer re-open its probe because it denied him natural justice.
In a decision with broad implications for the disability services sector, a care provider has failed to overturn a ruling that a worker who signed two contracts describing her as an independent contractor is in fact an employee capable of suing it for alleged unlawful dismissal.
Extending employers' duty of care to the disciplining and sacking of workers would not "frustrate" contractual certainty or disrupt businesses, lawyers for a charity's former consultant have told the High Court.
A FWC bench has upheld a ruling that a club unfairly sacked a casual duty manager after accusing her of stealing a drink, but not before rejecting a presidential member's finding that the "theft" needed to be established "beyond reasonable doubt" and that the employer used an "intimidatory" dismissal process.
The charity defending a High Court case with the potential to extend duty of care to the disciplining and sacking of workers has warned that overturning a 115-year-old precedent would "disturb the allocation of risk" in every current employment contract.
Construction giant Laing O'Rourke has failed to block consideration of compensation and penalties while it appeals a finding that it unlawfully sacked a manager over an altercation at a party during a bushfire recovery project.
Sydney University will not have to reinstate a lecturer sacked five years ago for superimposing a swastika on an image of an Israeli flag, after a full Federal Court majority found he could not prove that his "incendiary" conduct fell under intellectual freedom protections.
