A full Federal Court has cast doubt over a $40 million underpayments case after ruling that a FWC presidential member and a bench led by president Adam Hatcher failed to properly consider an employer's arguments about the improbability of penalty rates not already being wrapped up in loaded rates paid under two agreements.
A judge has binned the $7.5 million lawsuit of an academic claiming his "oppressor characteristics" made him a victim of a university's diversity policies, observing that while he might have "a very legitimate gripe", industrial laws are not the platform to advance his crusade against "woke ideology".
A Canberra contractor that blocked CFMEU officials from investigating safety issues has been hit with higher penalties after conceding that a judge mistakenly bundled obstruction and misrepresentation breaches together when determining fines.
A major charity engineered the departure of a "serial complainer" after the "intuitively odd" involvement of a specialist IR law firm, a court has found.
In a judgment raising the possibility that State workplace protections could extend to independent contractors under the Fair Work Act, Federal Court Chief Justice Debra Mortimer has today dismissed Melbourne Symphony Orchestra's bid to strike out a freelance pianist's adverse action claim that it discriminated against him by cancelling a performance after he accused Israel of committing war crimes.
An aged care home has been ordered to pay almost $400,000 in damages and penalties to a Chinese nurse summarily sacked after she complained that Filipino co-workers received more favorable treatment.
A Melbourne stockbroking firm and its founder have been hit with compensation orders and penalties totalling more than $600,000, a Federal Court judge also directing them to cover the legal costs of two former advisors forced to defend "fanciful" claims their departure "destroyed" the business.
The Federal Court has rescinded a windfall for three emergency-call operators who stood to be reimbursed for years of unpaid mentoring allowances, after determining a lower court failed to account for training payments already made under the governing agreements.
An unlisted mining exploration company has failed to claw back legal costs that included a 14-day trial defending claims brought by its former "whistleblower" chief executive, after the Federal Court found his rejection of two settlement offers justified when he stood to receive "substantial" penalties for workplace breaches.
