The High Court of Australia has overturned the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia find that there is no implied duty of trust and confidence in Australian employment contracts. A recap on the facts Mr Barker had been employed with CBA for approximately 28 years. During this time he had risen to the […]
In Fraser v Burswood Resort (Management) Ltd, the employee worked as a croupier at the Burswood Casino. The employee had finished her shift and about half an hour into her journey home, the employee lost control of her motor vehicle which rolled four or five times. The employee was seriously injured and has ongoing disabilities. […]
In a recent matter before the Federal Circuit Court of Australia, an employer has been fined and ordered to seek professional help to deal with his anger management issues. An employee (represented by the Transport Workers’ Union) approached the employer and informed him that he could not work the following Monday as he had to […]
A Financial Controller for a global shipping company has had her total termination payment increased from approximately $50,000 to over $1 million dollars following a decision by the New South Wales Supreme Court. In Ma v Expeditors International Pty Ltd, the Financial Controller commenced legal proceedings against her former employer claiming she was entitled to […]
In a NSW Supreme Court decision, Fairfax applied for an injunction to restrain a former employee from working for Yahoo!7. The employee commenced with Fairfax in 2009. In October 2011, he was promoted and subsequently signed another contract with Fairfax. The contract contained a restraint clause that restrained the employee from working for a competitor […]
Justice White of the Federal Court has held that an employer who had made an employee redundant whilst on parental leave had not discriminated against the employee. The employee was employed in the position of Marketing Manager. Whilst the employee was on parental leave, the employer proceeded to make the position redundant. In considering whether […]
There have been a number of cases moving through State courts where parties have tried to enforce restraint clauses against former and even prospective employees. These cases provide some important lessons to employers who are seeking to enforce restraint clauses. Network Ten Pty Ltd v Seven Network (Operations) Ltd In this high profile case before […]
A principal contractor has been found liable for injuries to one of its subcontractor’s employees after the principal contractor took over a higher level of responsibility for the safe systems of work to be undertaken by the subcontractor. The employee of the subcontractor was engaged to dismantle scaffolding and fell 8 metres onto a concrete […]
In the recent case of Sagona v R & C Piccolo Investments Pty Ltd and Ors, the Federal Circuit Court has ordered the employer and its husband and wife owners to pay $235,000 to an employee who was found to have been discriminated against after she announced that she was pregnant. Background The Applicant in […]
In a recent case before the Fair Work Commission, it was confirmed that breaching a ‘cardinal’ safety rule was a valid reason for dismissing an employee. Interestingly, the employer did not actually rely on the employee’s breach of its safety rules as the reason for his dismissal. Instead it relied on the employee’s repeated dishonest […]