A former Maurice Blackburn lawyer set to give evidence in a suit against Qantas was not “deliberately avoiding” the trial with an extended hospital stay, but “better evidence” was needed for why he was admitted, a judge has said.
Regional Express has engaged Big Six firm Clayton Utz to investigate potential court action against rival airline Qantas for alleged anticompetitive conduct.
Qantas has lost a case brought by the Transport Workers Union that challenged the airline’s decision to axe 2,000 staff and replace them with “insecure” labour hire workers, with a judge finding Qantas boss Andrew David outsourced ground operations partly to prevent employees engaging in industrial action.
Regional Express is weighing court action against Qantas, alleging Australia’s biggest airline engaged in anti-competitive behaviour in the form of capacity dumping and predatory practices.
Qantas has resolved a lawsuit brought by the 64-year-old son of former chairman Sir Lenox Hewitt who alleged the airline’s policy of providing voluntary redundancy only to employees under 63 years of age was discriminatory.
The High Court has denied special leave to unions representing 20,000 Qantas workers who were stood down during the coronavirus pandemic to challenge a ruling that they were not entitled to paid sick or compassionate leave.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has proposed to deny authorisation for Qantas to coordinate with Japan Airlines on flights between Australia and Japan despite the regulator’s increased flexibility on the travel sector during COVID-19.
Qantas has secured a temporary injunction from a Singapore court blocking a former company executive from starting a new position at competitor Virgin Australia.
A judge has temporarily barred Qantas from moving forward with its plans to terminate a long haul pilot who reached the mandatory retirement age of 65, saying the pilot had established that he may have an age discrimination claim against the airline.
Qantas has appealed a decision that found its dispute with former executive Nick Rohrlach over his defection to competitor Virgin Australia should be heard in Singapore, saying the exclusive jurisdiction clause in his contract did not “bite”.