A judge has ordered Qantas to hand over instructions it gave to its solicitors at Herbert Smith Freehills that underpinned advice over the airline’s decision to sack 1,700 ground crew during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Merivale will fork over $18 million in a proposed settlement to resolve an employment class action against the hospitality giant, of which $8.6 million is sought to be deducted in legal fees and a funder’s commission.
Qantas has been hit with a $250,000 fine for standing down a health and safety representative who directed co-workers to cease unsafe work during COVID-19, with a judge saying the airline’s conduct was “shameful” and designed to “advance its own commercial interests”.
The leader of an abusive New Age cult operating out of northern NSW has lost her defamation case against a former follower who wrote a tell-all book about her experiences, after a judge found she was a “dishonest and unreliable” witness.
A Melbourne lawyer has received a suspended sentence of 30 days imprisonment for “stubborn and wilful disobedience” of court orders, after he failed to share logins and passwords to his firm’s computer records with an auditor appointed by Victoria’s legal watchdog.
Optus has paid a $1.5 million penalty after an investigation by the Australian Communications and Media Authority revealed breaches of public safety rules.
An appeals court has ordered a third trial in a long-running copyright battle between Microsoft and a Melbourne computer retailer, saying the trial judge’s findings were “greatly diminished” by her three-year-long delay in delivering judgment.
Government consulting firm Scyne Advisory has brought legal action to stop a partner from jumping to the professional services arm of infrastructure giant Downer EDI.
The mother of murder victim Shandee Blackburn has lost her bid to have a judge decide ahead of trial whether acquitted suspect John Peros suffered serious harm from Facebook posts that allegedly accused him of being a murderer.