The Federal Court must guard against “exceptions by accretion” when weighing Westpac’s application to prevent the public from accessing documents filed in a lawsuit by the bank’s former head of strategy, which has resolved in a confidential settlement, a judge heard Wednesday.
Despite arguing for suppression as a means only to successful mediation, Westpac now wants a settled employment case brought by an executive kept under lock and key. And in a worrying sign the Federal Court may have lost sight of the importance of open justice, a judge has indicated she would entertain an order that the suit never see the light of day.
Westpac has secured confidentiality orders blocking the release of details of an adverse action case by its former head of strategy, after arguing that publicity would hamper settlement talks and force it to defend itself in the media.
A judge has granted Australian bubble tea franchise Sharetea a third adjournment of a trial in a $10 million case brought by its Taiwanese franchisor, despite “very significant concern” that Sharetea’s director did not do everything in his power to find new lawyers in time.
The High Court had been asked to clarify the extent of protection for employers for genuine redundancies under the Fair Work Act, after an appeals court found the exemption was “not absolute”.
A class action against the New South Wales government alleging it discriminated against Indigenous communities on the south coast for engaging in cultural fishing practices will include up to 15,000 people, a court has heard.
The allowance for genuine redundancies is “not absolute” and employers need to consider measures to redeploy workers, including retraining, an appeals court has said in an unfair dismissal case involving 22 mining workers.
An appeals court has granted the Commonwealth’s bid to suppress material relating to its “conduct after capture” training in a discrimination case brought by a former ADF member, finding that a document is not in the public domain simply because it is available for inspection on the court file.
The theatre company behind a 2014 production of the Rocky Horror picture show has lost its bid to throw out actor Christie Whelan’s claims that she was victimised after allegedly suffering sexual harassment by fellow actor Craig McLachlan.
A former National Rugby League referee has lost his unfair dismissal lawsuit alleging he suffered bullying and victimisation, with a judge finding the league did not terminate his employment but “acted passively” in letting his contract term end.