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 court has found an employer who was in a relationship with an employee s-xually harassed her when he extorted her into having unwanted intercourse, setting compensation at $25,000, while rejecting her claim he sacked her for falling pregnant.
The judge credited with blowing the lid off the way compensation is assessed in workplace harassment and discrimination cases has retired after more than a quarter of a century on the bench.
A court has ordered a cafe to pay a teenage worker $7300 compensation, including $6000 for hurt and humiliation, after it took unlawful adverse action because of his temporary disability when it dismissed him for calling in sick due to a chest infection.
Maurice Blackburn's head of employment and industrial law, Josh Bornstein, says damages for discrimination and harassment "remain persistently low" but he expects an upwards trajectory as their impact has been "laid bare" and expectations are now clearer.
A heavy vehicle diesel mechanic who suffered a non-work-related wrist injury has won $44,000 in damages after his employer failed to offer reasonable adjustments and made "clumsy" and "ill-informed" attempts to re-engage him while awaiting "full clearance".
The income and compensation caps for unfair dismissal claims are set to increase on Saturday, along with filing fees for a range of other applications.
A tribunal has ordered a disability support service to pay a worker $10,000 damages and three months wages, after it failed to engage her because of her disability.
A court has upped from $20,000 to $90,000 the general damages payout for a veteran chief accountant subjected to age discrimination and is considering billing his former employer a further $142,000 for economic loss, after hearing he is "no longer the same man" and is unable to work.
Unions have welcomed recommendations in a government-commissioned review of safety regulations addressing s-xual assault and harassment in WA's mining industry, but have expressed dismay at evidence that employers are deliberately failing to report incidents to regulators.
