Qantas was entitled to take adverse action against ground crew to stave off the possibility of future industrial action, the airline has told the High Court in an appeal of a finding that it breached the Fair Work Act when it outsourced the crew’s work during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The fate of 25 unfair dismissal claims by former DP World employees hangs in the balance after the Fair Work Commission ruled that the stevedoring company failed to consult its workers about its COVID-19 vaccination policy.
Requests by litigants for judges to disqualify themselves from presiding over cases were largely denied last year, in a raft of decisions containing lessons for litigants weighing up their own recusal bids in 2023.
The Albanese government is inviting submissions on a federal judicial commission tasked with dealing with alleged misconduct by judges, saying the commission will strive for transparency and will not adopt a disciplinary model.
A Boeing Defence instructor who was sacked for refusing to get a COVID-19 vaccination has won an unfair dismissal case, with the Fair Work Commission finding it was “harsh and unreasonable” for Boeing to fire him while he was in the running for another role at the company.
The state of Western Australia has been left with a $2 million legal bill for defending a defamation action by billionaire Clive Palmer and advancing cross-claims on behalf of premier Mark McGowan, which a judge blasted as “a futile exercise”.
The Victoria Supreme Court has dismissed a bid to quash the Environment Protection Authority’s decision to renew the mining licences of the state’s three remaining coal power stations, in a test case for the state’s Climate Change Act.
Multi-million dollar claims of sexual harassment by two associates of a former Victoria Supreme Court judge have been settled by the state out of court.
The Albanese government has vowed to abolish and replace the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, saying it has been “fatally compromised” by the former government which allegedly appointed political allies who had no expertise.
A senior barrister at the helm of important insurance test cases has been appointed to the Federal Court bench, along with two state court judges.