A make-up artist has launched a Fair Work case against the ABC alleging she lost her shifts after refusing to wear a mask in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Qantas has been hit with a test case to determine whether axing 2,000 ground staff and replacing them with “insecure” labour hire workers is unlawful.
Qantas workers on stand-down orders during the coronavirus pandemic have lost an appeal to overturn a ruling that they are not entitled to access paid sick or compassionate leave.
A judge has vacated a seven-week trial in proceedings brought by ASIC against two former Rio Tinto executives to March or April 2022, after they requested a “lengthy delay” to ensure a COVID-19 vaccine would be available before they travel to Australia for trial.
The state of South Australia is facing a possible class action over a restrictive six-day lockdown that was lifted after two days when it was discovered that a worker connected to a coronavirus outbreak in Adelaide had lied to contact tracers about the time he spent at a pizza shop.
A former Rio Tinto executive living in the US who wants to appear in person at an upcoming trial in a case brought by ASIC says the hearing should be moved to next year when a COVID-19 vaccine will likely become available and he could travel to Australia to “mount a vital defence”.
Insurers may face a class action by holders of business interruption insurance that have had their COVID-19-related claims rejected, following their loss in a test case over whether an infectious disease exclusion in business interruption cover applies to coronavirus-related claims.
Insurers will face a flood of pandemic-related claims after an appeals court ruled in a test case brought by the Insurance Council that certain infectious disease exclusions in business interruption cover do not apply to coronavirus-related claims.
Will we see an increase in class actions and funded litigation following the COVID-19 financial crisis similar to that following the global financial crisis? If there is an onslaught of corporate failures, including failed managed investment schemes, then such litigation seems likely to ensue. However, in the last year, Parliament and the courts have taken steps which might slow such litigious activity, says Susan Goodman of Holding Redlich.
A nursing home in Melbourne’s Western suburbs may be hit with a class action over a COVID-19 outbreak at the facility that resulted in the deaths of 11 residents.