Industries

The Fair Work Ombudsman has won its underpayments case against restaurant chain Sushi Bay and its director, with a judge finding the company forced migrant workers to pay back their entitlements in cash in a “calculated and institutional effort” to conceal wrongdoing. 

A nose job patient who allegedly defamed his surgeon has been slugged with $50,000 in security for his appeal, on top of a $50,000 damages bill that a judge said the surgeon is unlikely to see.

REST Super faces a class action alleging the supererannuation trustee deducted premiums for income protection insurance that provided no benefit to members.

Queensland power company Stanwell has flagged a possible ‘no case to answer’ submission in an upcoming competition class action trial that would seek to shut the case down mid-trial, with a judge saying it was “highly unlikely” to succeed. 

The applicant in a class action against four AMP subsidiaries and two trustees over alleged excessive superannuation fees has flagged its opposition to soft class closure, saying it would be “completely inappropriate” to require the large class of up to two million group members to register ahead of mediation. 

Instagram is planning to hit Dialogue Consulting with a cross-claim that accuses the Melbourne social media start-up of breaching US law related to the protection of users’ data and engaging in misleading or deceptive conduct.

EFTPOS provider Tyro has secured a $10 million settlement in a lawsuit accusing a unit of Canadian firm Lightspeed of violating a restraint of trade clause by encouraging Tyro customers to adopt its own competing payment system.

A Norwegian company can’t dodge service of a $2.5 million lawsuit via its Australian solicitors, failing in its argument that exceptional circumstances are needed to avoid the more lengthy and costly process of serving it in its home country.

Herbert Smith Freehills has filed proceedings against its former client United Petroleum, seeking costs of successfully defending a lawsuit alleging it acted negligently in relation to the company’s failed initial public offering in 2016. 

Commonwealth Bank of Australia and subsidiary CommSec have been hit with $10.34 million in penalties — the highest ever imposed in enforcement action by the workplace regulator — after admitting it underpaid thousands of employees more than $16 million.