Employment

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia has hit back at a $45 million lawsuit alleging it failed to provide thousands of employees with paid rest breaks for at least six years, saying it had no responsibility to schedule or roster the breaks.

Fleet management company Orix Australia has struck out in its bid to access certain files in an abandoned criminal case against two former senior executives as it seeks to claw back what it claims are losses suffered as a result of their breaches of duty.

A former truck driver for Cooloola Milk who claims he was fired after asking about overtime pay has won his legal challenge to a decision finding that he was a casual employee and not entitled to protections against dismissal.

A solicitor and former client is suing Corrs Chambers Westgarth for “very significant damages”, alleging breaches of multiple duties by the law firm in the course of protracted litigation.

Explaining his decision to reject a class action settlement that would have earned a law firm $1.75 million but provided nothing to 27,000 Woolworths employees, a judge has said the agreement created a conflict of interest between the solicitors and the workers they sought to set “adrift”.

One Nation chief-of-staff James Ashby has failed to revive his lawsuit alleging the federal government breached the Fair Work Act by not paying his $4.5 million legal bill stemming from a dropped sexual harassment case against former House speaker Peter Slipper.

Big Six firm Herbert Smith Freehills has appointed a PricewaterhouseCoopers veteran as its first director of global workforce strategy and implementation.

A former receptionist’s claims of ill mental health after allegedly suffering sexual harassment by Australian cricket players and managers do not “ring true”, Cricket Tasmania has argued as the receptionist fights to bring her case out of time. 

Virgin Australia has struck back at a lawsuit by its former chief pilot alleging the airline sacked him for complaining of bullying and harassment by its CEO, saying it terminated the pilot’s employment after he was deemed medically unfit for his role.

Qantas and the Transport Workers Union both lost their appeals Wednesday of a judge’s decision finding the airline had decided to axe 1,800 ground staff partly to prevent employees bringing industrial action but refusing to reinstate the workers. The airline has vowed to take the case to the High Court.