Judgment

A Canberra massage parlour that systematically underpaid, intimidated and exploited migrant workers, including by threatening to kill their family members if they complained, has been hit with a $1 million penalty. 

Slater & Gordon has won the court’s nod to be separately represented at an upcoming settlement approval hearing where it will seek a $12.8 million group costs order for running a shareholder class action against G8 Education.

A judge has refused to allow a female pilot to bring claims that Qantas engaged in sex discrimination because it had a culture that was “hostile to women”, saying that while the ‘vibe’ of a claim might suffice in the court of public opinion, it could not survive in a court of record.

International fugitive Jean Nassif, who headed troubled property developer Toplace, has lost his bid to reinstate defamation proceedings against Harbour Radio and 2GB host Ray Hadley, with a judge saying there was no evidence he would return to Australia to prosecute the case. 

A request to a female senior engineer for WSP to “get the coffees” during a client meeting did not amount to gender-based harassment, the Fair Work Commission has found in rejecting the engineer’s unfair dismissal claim.

A judge has granted the Victorian government’s bid to dismiss a class action over its decision to retire Melbourne’s high-rise public housing towers, but allowed the applicant to recast his claim, despite protests from the state. 

A court has found Qoin cryptocurrency issuer BPS Financial made false and misleading claims about its product, in a win for the corporate regulator and a likely boost for a class action against the Gold Coast-based digital currency company.

Convenience chain 7-Eleven has defeated Seven Network’s challenge to its bid to trade mark ‘7-Select’ for a new brand of products targeting younger shoppers, with an IP Australia delegate finding consumer confusion was not likely.

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.

The litigation funder that bankrolled a patent infringement case by a vehicle monitoring systems manufacturer is on the hook for legal costs after technology company SARB succeeded in appealing a finding that it infringed the IP for a parking detection system used by the City of Melbourne.