The High Court will deliver judgment Wednesday in an appeal by Qantas over its decision to sack its ground crew at the height of COVID-19, a ruling that could determine the scope of adverse action protections under the Fair Work Act.
A junior doctor representing thousands of medical officers in NSW has thwarted an application by the state to declass her group proceeding, with a judge saying a “single determination” of the issues common to all group members was the most efficient way of resolving them.
The Full Court has held a Sydney Trains driver who worked the morning after blowing over four times the legal limit is entitled to a rehearing, finding the Fair Work Commission failed to properly consider a section of its own founding legislation.
If Qantas triumphs in its High Court appeal of a ruling that found it violated the Fair Work Act when it outsourced ground crew at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, it would create a “whack-a-mole” legal right to terminate disadvantaged people, the Transport Workers Union has argued.
A judge has rejected a bid by the Australian rail union to recuse herself from hearing its case against Sydney Trains that seeks approval to deactivate Opal readers amid protracted industrial action, despite having represented the rail operator when she was a barrister last year.
A judge has raised concerns about a bid by the rail workers union for a judicial “green light” to deactivate ticket readers as part of a protracted industrial action in Sydney, saying the court should not be used as an “adviser”.
Qantas has asked the High Court to reverse a judgment that found it violated the Fair Work Act by axing 1,800 ground staff partly to prevent them from bringing industrial action.
Qantas and the Transport Workers Union both lost their appeals Wednesday of a judge’s decision finding the airline had decided to axe 1,800 ground staff partly to prevent employees bringing industrial action but refusing to reinstate the workers. The airline has vowed to take the case to the High Court.
A decision by Qantas to outsource its ground staff was not timed to head off industrial action by the Transport Workers’ Union, the Full Federal Court has heard as the airline seeks to overturn a finding that it engaged in adverse action when it terminated around 1,800 employees last year.
The Transport Workers Union has appealed a judge’s decision that compensation was a more appropriate remedy for 1,800 Qantas workers who had been denied the “matchless blessing” of a job than reinstatement.