In an expensive case for Queensland Police that is said to affirm the rights of entry permit holders federally, the State's Court of Appeal has quashed a finding that a group of union officials trespassed by refusing to leave when an employer denied them entry.
A pistol club manager who claims its directors promised to house her in an onsite motor home "for life" is accusing them of underpaying her for more than a decade and threatening to sack and evict her when she sought her full entitlements.
The High Court has refused to grant a large charity leave to appeal a finding that the FWC did not invalidly exercise judicial power when arbitrating a dispute brought under an inherited agreement.
The CFMMEU has told the High Court an ABCC appeal raises the prospect of "double punishment" by inflicting maximum penalties for even minor contraventions based on past recidivism, with a risk that it could encourage contravenors to commit more serious breaches.
An academic's $2 million adverse action case against a university's HR department has been transferred to the Federal Court, a judge observing that its outcome has "significant" implications for the tertiary sector's ability to scrap tenured positions funded by endowments.
A Federal Court judge has set a limit on the construction watchdog's use of anti-picketing laws to bring unions to heel, observing that "while picketing involves obstruction, not every obstruction is a picket".
In a decision said to have "massively" raised the bar on compensation amounts, Queensland's Industrial Court has boosted a "manifestly inadequate" $50,000 payout to nearly $160,000 for a casual laundry worker who faced demands for s-x in return for work.
A senior FWC member has decided to forge ahead and determine whether a "deactivated" Uber driver is an employee, rejecting a bid to stay his unfair dismissal claim until the Federal Court tackles the question in a case he is pursuing with the Rideshare Driver Network.
The High Court's Rossato judgment is already having a knock-on effect, with a FWC full bench questioning its effect on Deliveroo's appeal of a finding that a rider was an employee and proposing not to determine it until the High Court decides two more cases.
IR academics say the High Court's "revolutionary" approach in Rossato signals an intention to rewrite the rules for determining employment status, with potentially dire consequences for gig workers and others seeking to challenge their characterisation.