Redfern Legal Centre

The lead plaintiff in a class action alleging NSW Police conducted illegal strip searches at music festivals has argued the state cannot rely on a defence that the searches were a reasonable exercise of power, after a recent judgment found the defence does not apply to unlawful arrests.

The NSW government is seeking to strike out class action claims for exemplary damages, arguing allegations that police conducted strip searches at music festivals as a matter of routine “lack specificity at every level”. 

A judge hearing a class action against the New South Wales government and police commissioner over allegedly illegal strip searches at music festivals has criticised the state for failing to comply with court orders on time. 

PricewaterhouseCoopers has struck back at claims in a Fair Work suit brought by a graduate associate, denying liability for the alleged sexual harassment by the woman’s manager at multiple Sydney bars.

PricewaterhouseCoopers has been sued by an employee who alleges the accounting firm is vicariously liable for an alleged sexual assault by a co-worker after an end-of-financial-year work party.

A judge has found that a lawsuit against the state of NSW over hundreds of allegedly illegal strip searches conducted by NSW police at music festivals over a six-year period should move forward as a class action.

A former employee has brought proceedings against Woolworths, claiming the supermarket giant failed to properly address alleged sexual harassment in its “poor workplace culture”.

A judge has warned the NSW government that the court does not make orders “subject to [its] internal policies” after the state failed to comply with orders to hand over documents in a class action over police strip searches.

A judge has criticised a bid by the NSW government to access seven months of messages relating to drugs by the lead plaintiff in a class action over allegedly illegal strip searches at a Byron Bay music festival, saying they seemed “wholly irrelevant” to the case. 

The NSW government has struck back at a class action over allegedly unlawful police strip searches at 50 music festivals, saying the state is immune from personal injury claims because police officers had a reasonable suspicion group members were in possession of illegal drugs.