Worker's rights

Australian workers with intellectual disabilities received  backpay for unlawfully discriminatory wages, thanks to an agreement our Lawyers reached on behalf of about 10,000 workers in a class action against the Federal Government.

The pro bono class action, which was run in conjunction with the AED Legal Centre, was launched against the Commonwealth of Australia in the Federal Court and alleged that disabled workers working in Australian Disability Enterprises were being unfairly discriminated against. Some workers were earning as little at 99 cents an hour.

Lead plaintiff Tyson Duval-Comrie claimed the use of the Business Services Wage Assessment Tool (BSWAT) to determine pro-rata wages for people working at Australian Disability Enterprises discriminated against people with intellectual disabilities, in contravention of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992.

The Full Federal Court decided in a 2012 case that was brought against the Commonwealth by two individual workers with intellectual disabilities that using BSWAT to set the wages of intellectually disabled workers was discriminatory and contravened the Act.

Our class action sought an end to the discrimination, and compensation for those workers who lost wages as a result of the discrimination. An agreement estimated to be worth more than $100 million was subsequently reached between the parties, which was approved by the Federal Court in December 2016.

Affected workers who registered in the class action received an amount directly from the government in a scheme administered by the government.

Maurice Blackburn Lawyers has represented three women who worked for, and were sexually harassed by Mr Heydon during his tenure at the High Court.

In March 2019, Maurice Blackburn Lawyers made a complaint about Mr Heydon’s harassment of these women to the High Court. Following this complaint, the High Court commissioned an investigation that resulted in allegations of sexual harassment perpetrated by Mr Heydon being upheld in respect of six complainants.

Josh Bornstein, National Head of Employment Law at Maurice Blackburn, said the investigation had unveiled a pattern of predatory behaviour and sexual harassment over many years by Mr Heydon towards young female associates he employed.  It highlighted a gap in both addressing judicial misconduct and protecting their employees from that misconduct.

Since the investigation was finalised, the High Court and a number of Court’s around Australia have taken urgent action to reform policies and procedures relating to sexual harassment.

Maurice Blackburn Lawyers is continuing to represent three complainants in a compensation claim against Mr Heydon and the Commonwealth for the harm caused as a result of Mr Heydon’s harassment. 

Maurice Blackburn Lawyers provided pro bono legal representation to Australian Workers’ Union member Scott Tracey in a legal battle to save his job, after BP sacked him for sharing a Downfall meme satirising the company’s attempts to negotiate a new pay deal. 

Mr Tracey’s unfair dismissal application was initially rejected by the Fair Work Commission.  Maurice Blackburn represented Mr Tracey in his appeal to the Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission.   In the appeal, the Full Bench ruled that the dismissal was harsh and that Mr Tracey should be reinstated with compensation. Maurice Blackburn successfully defended Mr Tracey’s reinstatement when it was appealed by BP to the Federal Court.  Mr Tracey was ultimately returned to his job and awarded $200,000 in compensation in 2020. 

Kamal Farouque, a Principal Lawyer at Maurice Blackburn who represented Mr Tracey said “No one should be sacked for a having a harmless joke with their mates, about workplace issues like industrial bargaining.  This was a classic harsh dismissal and we are glad to have fought to have AWU member, Scott Tracey reinstated to his job.”