In an expensive case for Queensland Police that is said to affirm the rights of entry permit holders federally, the State's Court of Appeal has quashed a finding that a group of union officials trespassed by refusing to leave when an employer denied them entry.
The High Court has refused to grant a large charity leave to appeal a finding that the FWC did not invalidly exercise judicial power when arbitrating a dispute brought under an inherited agreement.
A graduate lawyer who proposed the terms of his legal supervision arrangement has failed to persuade the FWC he was an employee when the firm allegedly sacked him three times before having him escorted from its office by police.
The CFMMEU has told the High Court an ABCC appeal raises the prospect of "double punishment" by inflicting maximum penalties for even minor contraventions based on past recidivism, with a risk that it could encourage contravenors to commit more serious breaches.
The NSW IRC has wound back disciplinary measures against a prosecutor accused of "coaching" when he mimicked digital penetration and fellatio to a witness pursuing a sexual assault case.
In a decision said to have "massively" raised the bar on compensation amounts, Queensland's Industrial Court has boosted a "manifestly inadequate" $50,000 payout to nearly $160,000 for a casual laundry worker who faced demands for s-x in return for work.
The High Court's Rossato judgment is already having a knock-on effect, with a FWC full bench questioning its effect on Deliveroo's appeal of a finding that a rider was an employee and proposing not to determine it until the High Court decides two more cases.
IR academics say the High Court's "revolutionary" approach in Rossato signals an intention to rewrite the rules for determining employment status, with potentially dire consequences for gig workers and others seeking to challenge their characterisation.
A full Federal Court has quashed a software company's $5.2 million general protections payout and ordered a retrial after finding that the judge in awarding record compensation to the former Victorian state manager failed to provide adequate reasons in his 350-page decision.
The High Court has today unanimously upheld labour hire company Workpac's challenge to a finding that coal mineworker Robert Rossato was entitled to paid leave while engaged as a casual on consecutive contracts for almost four years.
