Evidence of an outdated management approach and bullying — which included threatening defamation proceedings against two junior lawyers that complained about her — appear to be responsible for the ousting of a former senior Piper Alderman partner, not her sex, a judge has found.
Piper Alderman will spend the next six weeks gathering documents for a former partner who is seeking to revive her unlawful discrimination case against the firm, but a court limited the categories of documents sought to prevent a ‘fishing’ expedition.
Hicksons Lawyers has denied accusations of sexual discrimination by a female ex-partner who was denied a promotion to equity partner, saying she was passed over for the role because of substandard profitability and poor performance.
A judge has criticised as “meretricious” and “ridiculous” opposition by Commonwealth Bank of Australia to a discovery application by a former general manager who claims he lost his job for blowing the whistle on alleged manipulation of staff bonuses.
A former Piper Alderman partner is seeking to revive her unlawful discrimination case dismissed last year by the Australian Human Rights Commission, saying the seriousness of the allegations and the “public importance” of protecting women leaders from discrimination were powerful reasons to allow her claims to move forward.
The managing partner of Hicksons Lawyers has been accused of saying that if a former partner got pregnant, it would “ruin all [his] plans,” according to a sex discrimination lawsuit that argues the firm’s requirements for promotion to equity partner were discriminatory.
A former senior Piper Alderman partner who lodged a sex discrimination case against the firm and was forced off the partnership in June is broadening her case, a court has heard.
Former Wallabies player Israel Folau, who was sacked over homophobic social media posts, has increased the damages he is seeking in his unfair dismissal case against Rugby Australia, calling for $14 million in compensation as “Australia’s best player”.
A former Piper Alderman partner who filed a sex discrimination case against the law firm and was ousted from the partnership months later, is pressing on with her legal action, which was stayed while her complaint to the Australian Human Rights Commission played out.
A new report from the Law Council of Australia has revealed female barristers are doing more work for less money overall, with equitable briefing improvements outstripped by slow growth in fee parity.