Small business commissioners hitting 80% success rate in resolving disputes
The majority of disputes referred to Australia’s army of small business commissioners are being resolved successfully, according to Australian Small Business Commissioner Mark Brennan. Speaking at the...
View ArticleGrants aren’t helping Australian tech, but patent reform could
Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane has floated the idea that government grants be linked to the number of patents a university registers, rather than the papers it gets published. The suggestion comes...
View ArticleCourt pays out $1 million to worker for dismissal without reasonable notice
The NSW Supreme Court has awarded over $1 million to an employee who was dismissed without reasonable notice. Susanna Ma worked as an accounts manager for businesses related to logistics company...
View ArticleCompare the Market cops $10,000 fine for misleading ads
It may have run a successful ad campaign mistaking the word ‘market’ with ‘meerkat’, but insurance comparison website Compare the Market has not won any fans for mistakes made in its most recent...
View ArticleBank late fees class action target
Law firm Maurice Blackburn today launched class action proceedings on behalf of all customers and businesses charged a late fee by a bank. The class action includes all customers who have ever been...
View ArticleCan you trademark ‘real estate’? Battle heats up in intellectual property...
A trademark battle is emerging in the Australian real estate industry, with the Real Estate Institute of Australia (REIA) slamming a move by the REA Group to trademark “realestate.com.au”. The REA...
View ArticleWorker awarded $100,000 after colleague sent email from his account...
A prison worker in Adelaide has been awarded $100,000 in compensation after a colleague sent an email from his account which was found to be defamatory. District Court judge Susanne Cole ruled this...
View ArticleMelbourne gym faces landmark court case after ignoring a Fair Work unfair...
A Melbourne business is facing legal action in the Federal Circuit Court after ignoring a Fair Work Commission order to pay compensation to an employee it was found to have unfairly dismissed. The case...
View Article$500,000 sexual harassment case proves workplaces can include the pub across...
Employers are being warned they may be liable for sexual harassment that happens outside the office, after the Federal Court ruled a pub two work colleagues visited to deal with sexual advances counted...
View ArticleA “shemozzle that was doomed to failure”: South Yarra property developer gets...
Mark Ronald Letten, the South Yarra property developer who defrauded more than 1000 investors out of more than $100 million, has been sentenced to five years and eight months in jail for his crimes....
View ArticleFair Work orders Qantas to reinstate flight attendants who were sacked for...
The Fair Work Commission has ordered Qantas to immediately reinstate two flight attendants sacked for alleged inappropriate use of company-issued Cabcharge cards. The case sees Qantas join a list of...
View ArticleAustralian blender company in a spin over allegations of price fixing
A major Australian kitchen blender company attempted to engage in price fixing and resale price maintenance, according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. The ACCC has instituted...
View ArticleCourt finds fictional software brand in Dark Knight movie doesn’t infringe...
A US court has found the fictional “Clean Slate” software brand in the Dark Knight Rises movie doesn’t infringe the trademark of a real life business. Fortres Grand markets a Clean Slate software...
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ACCC nabs Maggie Beer for misleading product labels
Celebrity chef and former Senior Australian of the Year, Maggie Beer, has entered into an undertaking with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission over misleading product labels. Beer’s...
View ArticlePoor pay practices just the start, say overseas workers underpaid $20,000
A labour-hire contractor has agreed to pay more than $20,000 back-pay to 10 overseas workers, but the Fair Work Ombudsman has been told the underpayments were just the start of the company’s poor...
View ArticleFair Work slams employee for “downright lies” in unfair dismissal case
The Fair Work Commission has criticised an employee who brought an unfair dismissal claim, which it says is “riddled with” nonsensical propositions and “downright lies”. Miroslav Vujica was a forklift...
View ArticleAldi cops flak from ASIC on credit card surcharges
German discount supermarket Aldi has been forced to change the point-of-sale signage in a number of its stores after the corporate regulator found its disclosure of credit card surcharges was...
View ArticleIs Fair Work taking the piss? Truck driver awarded $16,128 in unfair...
The Fair Work Commission has awarded a truck driver $16,128 in unfair dismissal compensation from his employer after he was caught on camera urinating on a Woolworths warehouse while at work. The case...
View ArticleTelstra warns phone scams have increased 400% in 12 months
Telstra has warned consumers about a four-fold increase in scammers seeking to gather personal information over the phone in the past year, with phishing scams in particular on the rise. The news comes...
View ArticleHungry Jack’s in court over carpark death, Visy and Veolia also facing charges
Lawyers for fast food restaurant Hungry Jack’s appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates Court this week over charges relating to the death of an elderly man in one of the restaurant’s carparks. Fairfax...
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