The NRMA’s bid to restrain the maritime union’s campaign over the safety and employment standards of Sydney’s fast ferry services on the grounds that it violates IP and consumer laws is set to be fast tracked after a judge noted the “significant” case could raise freedom of speech issues.
A Sydney-based law firm is planning to file a cross-claim seeking legal costs from five former clients it represented in an employment lawsuit against Westpac, who are accusing the firm of negligence in rejecting a $4.45 million settlement offer.
The trial in the ACCC’s case against hospital group Ramsay Health Care has doubled in length after the regulator made a late bid to enter as evidence a file note based on a sound recording of a meeting in which a Ramsay unit’s CEO allegedly made anti-competitive threats.
Ramsay Health Care has denied its conduct towards a group of surgeons seeking to open a rival clinic in Coffs Harbour, NSW was anti-competitive or a misuse of market power, telling the court on the first day of trial that the venture was doomed to fail.
The stakes will be high for the ACCC when the trial kicks off Monday in its case against Ramsay Health Care alleging the hospital giant misused its market power and engaged in exclusive dealing, after the competition regulator came up short in its last big misuse of market power case against pharmaceutical giant Pfizer.
Debt collector ACM Group has been hit with a $750,000 fine for engaging in unconscionable conduct by misleading, harassing and coercing two vulnerable customers while chasing unpaid debts.
An employer group has lost an appeal to the Full Federal Court to overturn the merger of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union with two other unions.
The consumer watchdog has sought more than $1.5 million in penalties against debt collector ACM Group after the company was found liable for harassing vulnerable customers, but a judge on Tuesday questioned whether the fine, which could leave the company insolvent, was too punitive.
A Victorian woman can undergo IVF treatment using donor sperm without the consent of her estranged husband, the Federal Court has ruled, finding a state law that forced her to get the OK from her spouse breached federal discrimination laws.