An account manager who helped to lure 45 clients to a rival has been ordered to pay $500,000 to his former employer, after a judge highlighted the difficulty of gathering evidence in a case in which one of the manager's mobile phones surfaced after being "immersed in water" and another "met with the unhappy fate of being run over by a lawn mower".
A federal court has confirmed that the CFMEU's construction division is not the only industry participant deserving of scrutiny, factoring-in a builder's lack of remorse into penalties imposed for blocking a union official's attempt to check on potentially dangerous electrical boards.
In a significant ruling on what constitutes a "genuine" effort to reach agreement while bargaining, a FWC full bench has upheld a member's decision to grant a PABO to a union, despite it having met with the employer only once by the time its application came before the tribunal.
A Federal Court judge has dealt a blow to three workers' pursuit of an embassy over alleged sham contracts, closely examining the "dignity, immunities and privileges of foreign States under Australian law" before overturning a lower court's rejection of attempts to bin the case.
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.
Wharfies at Qube's bulk and general ports plan to step up protected industrial action with bans and limitations this week in Melbourne, Port Kembla and Brisbane, while warning that strikes are imminent.
The HSU will today lodge a Federal Court bid to place its Victorian No 1 branch into administration, as embattled branch secretary Diana Asmar resists calls to stand down and seeks to turn the heat back on the union's national executive in another case heading to court tomorrow.
The High Court has refused to hear a major hospitality group's challenge to a finding that a FWC bench did not show bias when it raised concerns about an already-approved agreement ultimately revealed to have been voted up by three venue managers and a payroll employee not covered by it.
The MEU has opened up another front in its continuing battles with BHP, claiming in a new Federal Court case that the mining giant is breaching award provisions by failing to give its Operations Services in-house labour hire workforce Christmas and Boxing Day off and not seeking majority support for regular shifts in excess of 10 hours.
Newly-installed CFMEU construction division administrator Mark Irving KC has told members that "militancy in accordance with the [Fair Work] Act" is not unlawful and that the union will not make political donations or take "positions" at ALP conferences while he is in charge.
