Defence minister Peter Dutton has won $35,000 in damages in a defamation case over a tweet accusing him of being a rape apologist, with a judge finding the tweet conveyed that the minister “excuses rape”.
Hospitality giant Merivale has streamlined its defence of a $129 million underpayment class action, arguing that it shouldn’t be expected to back pay employees because it operated its business under the mistaken belief that its enterprise agreement governing staff at 70 of its venues was valid.
South Australian Power Networks has reportedly agreed to pay $2.25 million to settle a class action brought by the victims of the 2019 Yorketown bushfire.
Ashurst has picked up a leading insolvency partner from Norton Rose Fulbright who advised on the restructure of the beleagured Arrium Group.
Supermarket chain Romeo’s has reached a settlement in two class actions alleging staff were underpaid, but details of the agreements are scant.
A judge has directed that the legal fees and funding commission sought to be deducted from a $125 million class action settlement with Crown Resorts be included in a proposed notice to shareholders, after learning that group members were forced to click through to Maurice Blackburn’s website to find the “critical” figures.
A lawyer for Rentokil has told a court the pest control company is scratching its head over the defence by a former manager accused of a $3.2 million fraudulent invoice scheme, noting the employee admits invoices were paid into his personal account.
Generic drug maker Sandoz AG has filed proceedings seeking the revocation of two patents registered in Australia by German pharmaceutical giant Bayer covering its top-selling blood clot drug Xarelto.
A judge overseeing a climate change class action against the government will be invited to visit the Torres Strait to see the alleged erosion of sacred sites, but before then the Commonwealth is seeking details on when it allegedly knew of the effects of global warming and the scope of its alleged duty of care.
Construction equipment giant Caterpillar has resolved its dispute with a former employee accused of flagrantly copying “many thousands” of confidential files before taking a job with a competitor.