A group member in a class action against Johnson & Johnson unit DePuy International has lost his bid to challenge his compensation determination 12 years after the case settled, with a judge finding that the independent counsel conducting the determination was not bound by the rules of procedural fairness.
Santos has largely succeeded in its bid for documents from the Environmental Defenders Office and expert witnesses in a failed case challenging the construction of the oil and gas company’s $5.6 billion Barossa pipeline.
The former chief executive officer of the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency has won her case alleging she was unfairly dismissed after complaining about the CFO, with a judge finding there was “extreme” unfairness in the decision to terminate.
Defunct microloan company Ferratum has been hit with $16 million in penalties for overcharging low-income consumers during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a judge noting the company’s conduct affected a large number of vulnerable customers.
Network Ten has won $2 million in costs against Bruce Lehrmann in his failed defamation case over the broadcaster’s coverage of Brittany Higgins’ rape allegations, after agreeing to a substantial haircut on its $3.7 million legal bill.
In a loss for the Australian Taxation Office, the Full Federal Court has found that payments made by Asahi Breweries-owned Schweppes to PepsiCo under agreements to sell brands such as Pepsi and Mountain Dew in Australia were not subject to a royalty withholding tax.
A judge has ordered Transport for NSW to only pay 65 per cent of the costs of a class action over Sydney’s $3 billion light rail construction, finding it was not inappropriate to apportion costs even though the plaintiffs were largely successful.
The United Firefighters Union has lost an appeal of two Fair Work Commission decisions, with the Full Federal Court finding that a commissioner did not err in deciding the matter at a later time.
A judge has refused to allow an owners corporation to serve late expert evidence in its case against developer Mirvac over alleged defects in a Sydney apartment complex, saying a solicitor’s explanation about “competing commitments” was inadequate and “a circumstance shared by most members of the legal profession”.
The Full Federal Court has dismissed an appeal by human rights group Save the Children, which sought to bring home Australians stuck in Syrian camps, rejecting as “mere conjecture” claims that Home Affairs had a repatriation arrangement with an authority in Syria.