Hall Payne

A leading industrial and employment firm has mounted a High Court challenge to the CFMEU administration on behalf of two of the union’s former leaders, who argue the legislation that facilitated the administration was unconstitutional. 

The High Court has taken up the ACCC’s boycott case against builder J Hutchinson and the controversial construction union, an appeal that gives the court the chance to clarify the standard for proving an anti-competitive arrangement.

A judge has expressed concern that a “bizarre” last-minute settlement in a long-running case against the CFMEU could damage the public perception of the FWO as a model litigant, saying it could appear that the ombudsman treated some perpetrators as “more equal” than others. 

The competition regulator has asked the High Court to correct the Full Court’s alleged error in overturning a finding that builder J Hutchinson and the union for construction workers violated competition laws by agreeing to boycott an independent subcontractor at a Brisbane building site.

Builder J Hutchinson and the union for construction workers have successfully appealed a finding that they unlawfully agreed to boycott an independent subcontractor at a Brisbane building site.

National Australia Bank says employees suing the company for years of alleged unpaid overtime have failed to prove the work asked of them was unreasonable, in response to a test case that could affect up to 10,000 staff. 

The founders of farming charity Aussie Helpers have won a defamation case against a Victorian woman who made allegedly defamatory comments on Facebook that claimed they committed criminal fraud by using donations for personal purchases.

A judge has rejected arguments by the Fair Work Ombudsman that the CFMMEU should be slugged with a penalty close to the maximum for the conduct of union officers who failed to show entry permits at a worksite, but she has imposed personal penalties against two officers with a record of prior breaches.

A judge has found a BHP mine took adverse action against a labour hire worker by excluding him from entering a Queensland mine after he complained about safety, rejecting arguments that the mine could not take adverse action because it did not employ the worker directly.

J Hutchinson and the CFMEU have appealed a judgment slapping them with a combined $1.35 million penalty for agreeing to boycott an independent subcontractor at a Brisbane construction site.