Companies

The Full High Court will sit for the hearing of KPMG’s battle to transfer a Victoria class action to Sydney, as the applicant in the case raises a question as to the constitutional validity of the firm’s argument that the NSW Supreme Court is bound to keep a group costs order operative. 

PricewaterhouseCoopers has struck back at claims in a Fair Work suit brought by a graduate associate, denying liability for the alleged sexual harassment by the woman’s manager at multiple Sydney bars.

The judge overseeing Bruce Lehrmann’s failed defamation case against Network Ten has slammed as misleading comments that his judgment vindicated the broadcaster, and questioned whether the remarks disentitled it to maximum defence costs.

Bruce Lehrmann has been given extra time to file any appeal of a ruling he raped colleague Brittany Higgins but in the meantime the former political staffer must hand over information on who funded his defamation case against Network Ten, which is likely to see him on the hook for millions of dollars in costs.

The NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption says it is seeking advice from the Director of Public Prosecution about whether prosecutions should be commenced against nine men, including several Downer EDI employees, after an investigation revealed “serious corrupt conduct” on transport projects.

Casino gaming giant Aristocrat may sue competitor Light & Wonder and two former employees who jumped ship for allegedly misusing confidential information about its popular Lightning Link and Dragon Link games to develop a competing product.

Two law firms behind underpayments class actions against Kentucky Fried Chicken have dodged a contest to run the litigation, agreeing to join their cases alleging the fast food giant denied tens of thousands of workers rest breaks.

PricewaterhouseCoopers has hit back at an employment suit filed by a former senior associate, saying the decision to terminate her employment was “entirely unrelated” to complaints she made about a supervisor’s “repeated bullying”.

Japanese company Hitachi has hit back at a lawsuit filed by the entity in charge of a $511 million waste-to-energy plant in Western Australia which accuses Acciona of withholding $38.6 million in bank guarantees, denying any joint liability with the Spanish infrastructure giant.

A judge has rejected a bid to keep the settlement sum under wraps in a class action against Nine over its coverage of litigation related to the 2004 Palm Island riots, noting that a “ballpark” figure is already open to be deduced from the settlement deed.