Company fined $200,000 after workplace fatality
31 July, 2012Kakos Trolley Services, a trolley collection company, has been convicted and fined $200,000 after the death of an elderly man who was run over by a reversing vehicle at a shopping centre loading dock.
When it comes to dismissal, let the punishment fit the crime, says NZ professor
26 July, 2012New Zealand’s employment legislation still needs work in the areas of remedies and punishments involving dismissal law, according to an expert in employment and industrial relations.
Workers compensation fraud lands osteopath in court
11 July, 2012An osteopath has been convicted and fined $16,000 after pleading guilty to fraudulently obtaining payments from WorkSafe.
Concrete company fined $80,000 after man almost dies
09 July, 2012Tegra Australia, a concrete manufacturing business that provides premix concrete and materials to construction sites throughout NSW, has been fined $80,000 and ordered to pay WorkCover’s legal costs after a 29-year-old man almost died when he inhaled toxic fumes.
Security company faces court for allegedly underpaying workers $21,000
06 July, 2012The Fair Work Ombudsman has launched a prosecution against a security company, alleging it underpaid 19 employees more than $21,000.
John Holland and Thiess admit to OHS failings, will fund major safety research investment
06 July, 2012Two of Australia’s largest construction companies, John Holland and Thiess, have entered into a $225,000 enforceable undertaking after two concrete sound barrier panels, each weighing 11.3 tonnes, fell from a contractor’s truck near the Eastlink tollway project in Ringwood, Melbourne, in October 2006.
High Court decision may put workers’ redundancy pay at risk, says Clayton Utz
26 June, 2012Employees of collapsed companies may be adversely affected by the High Court’s ruling that the Commonwealth’s funding of the school chaplains program is constitutionally invalid.
Horsham company fined $50K over sweep auger injury
22 June, 2012Following an incident in which a worker’s leg was caught in a sweep auger, a Horsham company has been fined $50,000.
Director with cancer sues former employer over breach of contract
15 June, 2012The Australian CEO of a major IT company is suing his former employer for breach of contract after the company failed to maintain his income protection insurance and payout entitlements after he was diagnosed with thyroid cancer.
Court action over alleged sham contracting
14 June, 2012The Fair Work Ombudsman has launched a prosecution against the operator of a Brisbane beauty and photography business, alleging he was involved in sham contracting activity and the underpayment of more than $8000 to seven employees.
Worker fined over nail gun incident
13 June, 2012A 34-year-old labourer has been convicted and fined at the Wodonga Magistrates’ Court after shooting an apprentice with a nail gun, fracturing his arm.
Flight Centre caught in workplace bullying case
15 May, 2012Australian travel agency Flight Centre is at the centre of a case of corporate workplace bullying, with Maurice Blackburn Lawyers filing action against the company in the Federal Court. Employment Law Principal Josh Bornstein said the action was filed under the Fair Work Act’s adverse action provisions - laws which play an important function in protecting whistleblowers from victimisation and retribution.
Workers compensation for injury during ‘private bedroom activities’
09 May, 2012 by Felicity Clarke and Elizabeth McLean, Squire SandersThe Federal Court has upheld a workers compensation claim by a Commonwealth worker whose ‘private activities’ with a ‘male friend’ in a motel room caused a glass light fitting above the bed to fall and strike her on the nose and mouth leaving her with physical and psychological injuries.
Asbestos lawyers welcome James Hardie High Court decision
03 May, 2012Today's High Court decision on James Hardie Industries has been welcomed by Maurice Blackburn lawyers. The Court held that seven non-executive directors of James Hardie broke the law when they released a misleading statement to the Australian Stock Exchange in February 2001.
Director fined $11,000 over ‘seriously reckless’ employment practices
03 May, 2012The former sole director of a retail company has been fined $11,000 after the Federal Magistrates Court found he presided over “seriously reckless” employment practices.
