Companies

Westpac has been hit with a $26 million penalty -- just shy of the $30 million sought by ASIC -- for failing to respond to online hardship applications on time on 277 occasions, in conduct described as “grossly negligent”. 

A judge has rejected a bid by a shareholder class action against water treatment firm Phoslock and auditor KPMG to put off paying $1.6 million in overdue cash security while negotiations about an ATE policy are on foot.

The Commonwealth Bank has urged the High Court to uphold a ruling rejecting shareholders' damages claims in two class actions, saying the decision correctly rejected their "conflation of materiality with loss".

Apple will bring a “full-bodied” opposition to a bid to expand a class action over the running of its App Store, after a judge found the tech company engaged in anti-competitive conduct in the app marketplace last year. 

Qube Ports has had limited success in seeking to strike out portions of an independent contractor's case that alleges the logistics giant is vicariously liable for an employee's sexual harassment at a work event.

ASIC is appealing the dismissal of its case against software company Nuix over representations in a prospectus for its $1.7 billion float, saying it was concerned the court got it wrong.

Two former JLL executives have resolved defamation proceedings against the publisher of The Australian over articles that claimed they went to strip clubs and sent lewd messages to an in-house WhatsApp group. 

Rebel Sport owner Super Retail Group has been hit with a class action for allegedly underpaying staff at its stores since 2019.

Elon Musk’s X Corp has been ordered to pay $750,000 after admitting it failed to give the eSafety Commissioner information about measures it has taken to crack down on child exploitation on its platform. 

EY Australia faces a lawsuit by a former intern who alleges she was harassed by her manager, victimized after making a complaint, and precluded from participating in a culture review by former sex discrimination commissioner Elizabeth Broderick.