An FWC full bench majority has thrown out a a company's challenge to a decision requiring it to reinstate an injured worker to his previous role and ensure he receives "work hardening".
A full Federal Court has described as "astounding" a CFMEU argument that it should not be held liable for organisers' unauthorised entries to building sites because the alleged contraventions should be viewed as an exercise of "power", rather than of a "right" defined by the Fair Work Act.
In a case that has already forced two managers last year to pay almost $50,000 in profits to their former employer, a full Federal Court has found on appeal that their new employer must also hand over more than $6.2 million in profits earned under their business plan.
The FWC has refused to issue orders to suppress the identity of individuals involved in a heated dispute over "illicit" posts on Facebook and other websites.
An FWC full bench has lifted confidentiality orders on a fiery dispute between the UFU and Melbourne's Metropolitan Fire Board over a firefighter's allegedly offensive Facebook comments, finding that parties to the dispute must accept the consequences of open justice regardless of any embarrassment that might ensue.
The FWC has extended time for an employee who claimed "force majeure" and an "Act of God" after Cyclone Debbie and representative error delayed lodgement of her unfair dismissal application.
The FWC has upheld the sacking of an Australian Federal Police officer who stalked and intimidated his ex-partner when he left "used" condoms in her front yard and made offensive remarks on her Facebook page.
The FWC has criticised a company for fundamental failures of due process in a dismissal overseen by its HR function and warned that treating workers as human resources runs the risk of ignoring that they are "easily damaged" human beings "and when faulty they should be handled with more care than machines".
The bid to terminate the Coles Supermarkets enterprise agreement will be heard by an FWC full bench, after the Commission accepted that the 75,000-strong workforce it covered elevated the case to a "a matter of public significance because of its potentially broad economic and commercial effects."
The Federal Court has imposed a $2,500 fine on CFMEU construction and general division national secretary Dave Noonan, over unlawful conduct that halted work at Perth's $1.2 billion children's hospital project in 2013.
