COVID-19

A judge has slammed as a “schemozzle” a law firm’s attempt to drop a class action by Telstra employees over the telecom giant’s COVID-19 vaccine policy, saying it failed to seek court approval for the discontinuance or give notice to group members as required.

The High Court has ruled that the buyer of a well-known Sydney hotel was not entitled to repudiate the purchase agreement because of the hotel’s compliance with restrictions on public gatherings during the COVID-19 pandemic, which affected the operation of the business.

The ACCC will monitoring the pricing and supply of essential services such as energy and telecommunications as well as interest rates in 2023 as cost of living pressures continue to bear down on consumers.

Personal lender ClearLoans and its parent company have been hit with $6 million in penalties for violating consumer credit protections laws, including by failing to respond to financial hardship notices from debtors during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

An anti-lockdown protester has lost her appeal of a decision dismissing her legal challenge to Victoria’s stay-at-home orders, with an appeals court finding the reduction in risk to public health “outweighed” impacts on freedom of speech.

A class action against a Victorian aged care home over alleged major failures during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic has asked the facility to hand over insurance information and evidence of its financial position. 

A class action on behalf of businesses claiming harm from the 2020 hotel quarantine debacle has staved off the state of Victoria’s bid for a stay pending a criminal action against the Department of Health.

Personal lender ClearLoans and its parent company have agreed to pay penalties of just over $6 million to settle the first COVID-19 related case brought by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.

Qantas was entitled to take adverse action against ground crew to stave off the possibility of future industrial action, the airline has told the High Court in an appeal of a finding that it breached the Fair Work Act when it outsourced the crew’s work during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The fate of 25 unfair dismissal claims by former DP World employees hangs in the balance after the Fair Work Commission ruled that the stevedoring company failed to consult its workers about its COVID-19 vaccination policy.