On the first day of trial in parallel class actions and regulatory proceedings, the Fair Work Ombudsman panned the payment systems adopted by Woolworths and Coles for salaried managers, saying they were “entirely foreign” to the industrial award and that the supermarket giants had “no meaningful proper records” for overtime.
A Federal Court judge has pulled the plug on a bid by the Fair Work Ombudsman for an upcoming trial in wage cases against supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths to be livestreamed like other hearings of public interest in the court.
A law firm running underpayments class actions against Coles and Woolworths has sought orders forcing them to hand over contact details for key workers in the Fair Work Ombudsman’s parallel cases, which the supermarket giants lashed as likely to “cause chaos” in the proceedings.
A judge has ruled that the discontinuance of a class action doesn’t lift the suspension of the limitations period on group member claims, and a court order that the clock run again is needed to ensure companies don’t face potential litigation in perpetuity.
Hong Kong-based conglomerate CITIC has successfully struck out large portions of an amended defence by Mineralogy and its owner Clive Palmer in a dispute over the $5.8 billion Sino Iron project in Cape Preston, with a judge finding the changes would create “wholly disproportionate and unnecessary” steps just two months out from trial.
Victorian Labor MP Marlene Kairouz has won an injunction temporarily blocking the Labor Party from bringing branch stacking charges against her.
Clive Palmer’s Mineralogy has lost its bid to make Sino Iron and Korean Steel cough up over $529 million for mine site remediation in Western Australia, after the mining company argued the terms of their contracts required an immediate lump sum payment.
A judge has refused to extend the date by which Coles workers can register to join an employment class action against the supermarket giant as part of a class closure order, saying the amendment would force a hearing on his power to make the order.
A Victorian Labor MP accused of branch stacking has attacked the charges against her as invalid, telling the Victoria Supreme Court that they were brought under “shocking” and “draconian” party rules implemented in the wake of a controversial report on Nine’s 60 Minutes.
A judge has sided with five investments banks and rejected a bid to amend a class action alleging a series of cartel agreements to rig foreign exchange rates, saying there were “substantial problems” with the proposed pleadings.