Judgment

University of Sydney staff members who claim a professor unlawfully “named and shamed” them as pro-Israel have lost their bid to continue their racial discrimination case as a class action, while the university has lost a summary dismissal bid in a similar case.

A judge has tossed a developer's challenge to a NSW Heritage Council decision on a new residential development plan for the site of the former Kenmore Hospital in Goulburn, saying there was no decision to appeal.

The NSW Law Society's unusual approach to a proposed case against a law firm principal for a clerk's alleged embezzlement of client funds means insurer Lawcover's summary dismissal bid must fail, a judge has said.

The director of collapsed Shangri-La Construction is personally liable for the $3.2 million in costs of rectification work on external cladding at an apartment complex in southeast Melbourne, a judge has found.

Mining equipment supplier Southern Cross Industrial has lost its suit alleging an industrial lighting manufacturer infringed its patent for a portable light tower, with a judge finding the patent invalid.

Russia has lost its High Court challenge to the federal government’s decision to terminate its lease on a site where it intended to build a new embassy in Canberra, but the court found the Commonwealth must pay the country reasonable compensation. 

Waste management firm Veolia has agreed to pay $1 million after admitting that it failed to use required odour source controls for its landfill site in Hampton Park, Victoria.

A Sydney developer has won a dispute with the Inner West Council over its Annandale housing project application, despite a court finding it would cause a loss of affordable housing. 

Billboard company Manboom has suffered a loss in its case against Jemena Gas alleging the presence of underground gas infrastructure at a site in Mascot, NSW that supplies gas to 1.6 million customers amounts to trespassing.

SkyCity has lost its bid to dismiss a claim by a former employee who alleges he was discriminated against because he was a parent of a newborn child and dismissed because he made whistleblower reports.