In a case on what constitutes a "workplace right", the Federal Circuit Court has refused to throw out an adverse action application by an employee who was dismissed for challenging his employer's professional practices.
Another High Court case on the Fair Work Act's protections for employees engaged in union activity might not be far away, according to a leading IR academic, after the CFMEU's appeal against the Federal Court's BHP Coal "scab-sign" ruling was this morning rejected by a 3-2 majority.
A High Court majority has dismissed the CFMEU's appeal against the Federal Court's decision that BHP Coal did not take adverse action when it dismissed a union delegate when he waved an "anti-scab" sign on a union picket.
A hotel management company that took unlawful adverse action when it stopped giving shifts to a casual bartender who complained of being underpaid has been ordered to pay $11,000 compensation, including a sum for distress, hurt, and humiliation.
The Federal Circuit Court has rejected a costs claim by a company that twice offered an employee money to settle an adverse action case she went on to lose.
The High Court will decide next Thursday whether BHP Coal took adverse action against a mineworker when it sacked him for holding up an anti-"scab" sign at a picket in Queensland's Bowen Basin in 2012.
The Federal Court has criticised a lower court judge for making gratuitous comments about a barrister, but has rejected her argument that he should have stood down from her client's adverse action case because he was biased.
The High Court has reserved its decision on whether BHP Coal fell foul of the Fair Work Act's adverse action provisions by sacking a worker for breaching its workplace conduct policy after he held up an anti-"scab" sign at a picket.
A part-time HR manager's bullying claim against her chief executive backfired when her employer discovered while investigating her complaint that she had been using its resources to do work for other organisations.
The Federal Court has raised some important questions over whether employees have a "workplace right" to talk to the media about conditions in their workplaces.
