Employment

Law firm Norton Rose Fulbright has won its appeal of a $160,000 judgment in favour of former partner Thomas Martin, with the Full Federal Court finding Martin’s allegations of deceit arose from “an excess of suspicion” and “causal connections of the most tenuous kind”.

Hospitality giant Merivale has streamlined its defence of a $129 million underpayment class action, arguing that it shouldn’t be expected to back pay employees because it operated its business under the mistaken belief that its enterprise agreement governing staff at 70 of its venues was valid.

Supermarket chain Romeo’s has reached a settlement in two class actions alleging staff were underpaid, but details of the agreements are scant.

A lawyer for Rentokil has told a court the pest control company is scratching its head over the defence by a former manager accused of a $3.2 million fraudulent invoice scheme, noting the employee admits invoices were paid into his personal account.

Construction equipment giant Caterpillar has resolved its dispute with a former employee accused of flagrantly copying “many thousands” of confidential files before taking a job with a competitor.

McDonald’s Australia has been joined as a second respondent in a union-led lawsuit that accuses the fast food giant of “conspiring to deliberately deny workers their breaks”.

The Finance Sector Union has launched legal proceedings in the Fair Work Commission against the Commonwealth Bank for allegedly sacking an employee who breached a “draconian” salary secrecy clause.

A law firm that has filed seven class actions on behalf of casual coal mine workers is looking to discontinue two of those cases, after the High Court dealt them a serious blow by finding that those who work regular shifts are not entitled to paid leave and other entitlements under the Fair Work Act.

Employment law experts say the current lawsuits challenging COVID-19 vaccine mandates are likely to fail, and that future lawsuits lurking around the corner will also face a high bar.

Westpac has agreed to pay thousands of employees across Australia a total of $6 million in unpaid long-service leave entitlements as part of a court-enforceable undertaking to the Fair Work Ombudsman.