A software engineer breached his employment contract, his equitable duty of confidence, the Copyright Act and the Corporations Act when he downloaded more than 380,000 of his employer's files onto a hard drive, just before he resigned, a court has found.
The Fair Work Commission adjourned its inquiry into HSU Victorian No 1 branch entry permit applications this morning after branch general manager Kimberley Kitching indicated she would seek an urgent Federal Court order to compel the tribunal to rule on her argument that it has no jurisdiction to conduct the review.
The Australian Football League is arguing that its 120 media employees are not operationally and organisationally distinct from the rest of its workforce, as it tries to defeat a push by the MEAA for a majority support determination.
Nationals Senator Bridget McKenzie says FWC expert panel member Tim Harcourt is still playing politics despite being counselled by tribunal president Iain Ross that some of his public comments are inconsistent with the Commission's code of conduct.
A FWC full bench has ruled that in assessing whether reinstatement is appropriate in an unfair dismissal case, the tribunal should not take into account any ill-will arising from continuing legal proceedings between an employee and an employer.
In an important ruling on the definition of industrial action, the Federal Court has held that the provision of sensitive information to the media by employees is not "protected" under the Fair Work Act and might leave them vulnerable to breach of contract and coercion claims.
Another High Court case on the Fair Work Act's protections for employees engaged in union activity might not be far away, according to a leading IR academic, after the CFMEU's appeal against the Federal Court's BHP Coal "scab-sign" ruling was this morning rejected by a 3-2 majority.
A High Court majority has dismissed the CFMEU's appeal against the Federal Court's decision that BHP Coal did not take adverse action when it dismissed a union delegate when he waved an "anti-scab" sign on a union picket.
Two council workers who were sacked after visiting the same TAB during working hours have met markedly different fates, with one winning his job back and the other losing his unfair dismissal case.
