A judge has chided the Transport Workers Union for announcing at the start of trial that it intends to seek lost union dues from Qantas, as a hearing kicked off over the amount of compensation the airline owes to ground crew, whose jobs were illegally outsourced at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A judge has ordered Qantas to hand over instructions it gave to its solicitors at Herbert Smith Freehills that underpinned advice over the airline’s decision to sack 1,700 ground crew during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Qantas has been hit with a $250,000 fine for standing down a health and safety representative who directed co-workers to cease unsafe work during COVID-19, with a judge saying the airline’s conduct was “shameful” and designed to “advance its own commercial interests”.
Two law firms running competing class actions against Qantas over flight cancellations during the COVID-19 pandemic have agreed to cooperate after a judge took them to task for revising their funding positions in the lead up to a courtroom battle.
A judge has admonished the Transport Workers Union for relying on test cases to decide compensation for 1,700 ground crew who were sacked during the COVID-19 pandemic, saying it should instead bring a class action.
The ACCC has raised concerns over Qantas’ alleged failure to respond to claims in a blockbuster case against the airline over the sale of tickets on cancelled flights.
The judge hearing a bondholders class action against Virgin Australia has deferred the resolution of the airline’s cross-claim seeking seeking periodic payments from the class action to cover its costs under a contentious indemnity clause.
Qantas has again conceded defeat in the face of opposition by the ACCC, this time bowing out of a joint coordination agreement with China Eastern Airlines.
The High Court will consider an exception to the general immunity of foreign states for the first time, as it hears an appeal of a decision which found Indonesia’s national airline could avail itself of foreign state immunity to defeat a winding up application.
Qantas has dropped its bid to acquire Brisbane-based regional airline Alliance Aviation Services, saying a court battle with the competition regulator would be complex and costly.