HWL Ebsworth, the law firm at the centre of a coronavirus outbreak, is facing an investigation by WorkSafe that could result in criminal charges for breaches of workplace health and safety laws.
Federal police have charged 12 members of an alleged sophisticated criminal syndicate, including construction industry figure George Alex, which authorities say enlisted the help of financial industry experts and former bankers to pull off a $17 million fraud.
A ‘sham contracting’ class action against fundraiser Appco, said to be worth $90 million, could be settled in two weeks, the lawyer for the lead applicant told a judge on Monday.
An increase in the number of unfair dismissal cases and the addition of JobKeeper disputes has seen the general caseload of the Fair Work Commission jump by 30 per cent as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, FWC President Justice Iain Ross AO told Lawyerly.
The corporate watchdog would not take action on funding terms in a Fair Work class action brought by Adero Law, after receiving reports of potential misleading or deceptive conduct by the law firm and the funder backing the case, according to submissions made in the government’s latest inquiry into litigation funding and class actions.
The Victoria state government has launched reviews into the sexual harassment policies of its courts and tribunals and the law firms that provide services to the government, following allegations of sexual harassment against former High Court justice Dyson Heydon.
The parties in a ‘sham’ contracting class action brought on behalf of telecommunications workers have both lost bids to recover interlocutory costs, with a judge noting that costs orders against funded litigants should be the exception rather than the rule in Fair Work litigation.
The workplace umpire has jurisdiction to hear a case against Qantas and its budget subsidiary Jetstar brought by the union for licenced aircraft maintenance engineers stood down during the coronavirus pandemic, a judge has ruled in a blow to the airline.
The Federal Court is reviewing its sexual harassment policies following allegations that former High Court justice Dyson Heydon sexually harassed six female associates while on the bench.
A Qantas engineer who used his company-issued iPad to access pornographic material while at work has lost his unfair dismissal case.