A court has fined the CFMEU and two organisers almost $100,000, after finding the union engaged in unlawful coercion and adverse action when it organised a blockade at the $1.6 billion Port of Melbourne expansion project because an employer refused to bargain.
A Federal Court judge has found it "may well be correct" that former Tasmanian union leaders Kevin Harkins and Nicole Wells – now a Tasmanian Industrial Commission member – received redundancy payouts in 2008 to which they were not entitled.
A court has refused to summarily dismiss a general protections claim instigated by two former CFMEU construction and general division NSW branch organisers who maintain they were driven out of their jobs for whistleblowing.
Despite ultimately having to arrest a key witness to give evidence on its behalf, the ABCC has failed to convince the Federal Court the CFMEU acted unlawfully by denying two members of a caulking company access to a building site in Melbourne.
The Federal Court has dismissed an adverse action claim by a long-serving SBS employee who accused the broadcaster of offering her a choice between resignation or an indefinite secondment to avoid a substantial redundancy payout.
The Federal Court has found that the CEPU breached a former organiser's employment contract but didn't take adverse action when it cut his pay after former southern states branch leader Kevin Harkins allegedly told him if he didn't like it he could "f-ck off and there's the door".
The FWBC is reviewing its legal options after the Federal Court rejected its claims that a construction company discriminated against a subcontractor it dropped because it did not have a union agreement.
The Federal Court has found a hospital did not take adverse action against an emergency department nurse, rejecting as baseless her claims it discriminated against her because she lodged a workplace dispute and complained about working "excessive" weekend shifts.
The Australian Baseball League did not take adverse action against a team's general manager when it opted not to renew his contract, a court has found.
A full Federal Court has dismissed regional airline Rex's attempts to challenge a pilots' union's standing to pursue an adverse action claim for non-members, concluding it is entitled to represent the industrial interests of eligible non-members.