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Even if it's not captured at a Coldplay concert, are there any legal implications to workplace relationships?

Even if it's not captured at a Coldplay concert, are there any legal implications to workplace relationships?

Now to a story that's captured the entire world's attention in recent days about two married executives caught embracing on camera at a Coldplay concert in Boston.
You've no doubt seen something about it in the news or on social media... the footage has led to thou­sands of arti­cles, memes and plenty of jokes.
The Jumbotron or Kisscam capturing the pair ducking and weaving out of sight once they realised they were on the big screen.
And the fall-out has been swift and wide-reaching.
It turns out they were the Chief Exec­u­tive Offi­cer and Chief Peo­ple Offi­cer at a tech company called Astronomer... and within days... both were stood down from their roles... and yesterday the CEO resigned.
But are there any legal implications in all of this?
Laura Tchilinguirian spoke with Workplace Relations Lawyer Michael Byrnes is a Partner at Swaab in Sydney
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As South Australia deals with its algal bloom, California is dealing with another
As South Australia deals with its algal bloom, California is dealing with another

ABC News

time2 hours ago

  • ABC News

As South Australia deals with its algal bloom, California is dealing with another

A dead sea lion is discovered on one end of the coast, and not far away an entire pod of long-beaked common dolphins lay stranded. It is becoming a familiar scene for those living along the coast of Southern California. And much like in South Australia, where thousands of dead sea creatures have washed ashore since March, a harmful algal bloom is to blame. Warning: This story contains content that some readers may find distressing. In California, this is the fourth consecutive year of death and destruction along the coastline. There have been scores of marine mammals and sea birds injured and killed, with US rescuers dealing with "by far historically the largest mass stranding event" relating to algal blooms. In South Australia, the Karenia mikimotoi bloom, kills fish and other sea creatures by impacting their gills, causing them to drown. In the US, authorities have been dealing with different types of algae, including one that produces domoic acid which can cause mammals like sea lions to experience seizures, behave aggressively or die. The Pacific Marine Mammal Center (PMMC) said the harmful algal bloom on the Southern California coast had significantly impacted sea lion and common dolphin populations and had killed two humpback whales and a minke whale. "In 2025, we've experienced the worst domoic acid algae bloom that we've ever experienced in Southern California history," Alissa Deming, PMMC vice president of Conservation, Medicine and Science told ABC News. Dr Deming said the PMMC hospital had taken in hundreds of sick mammals, which had been "physically demanding and very emotionally taxing" on staff and volunteers trying to help while protecting the public from aggressive animals. "A number of the sea lions were also pregnant, and that resulted in reproductive losses of over 85 fetuses born and lost in our hospital as a result of this bloom," she said. The veterinarian said there were likely similar drivers for its bloom to the one happening in South Australia including increasing marine temperatures and more nutrients from cold water upwelling. "By combining the warm sea surface temperatures with increased nutrients, that has resulted in us having a bloom event every year since 2022, with them seemingly becoming larger, longer lasting and covering a lot larger geographic region," Dr Deming said. Investigations are underway if the destructive Los Angeles wildfires in January and the associated run-off have contributed to the bloom. The US National Office for Harmful Algal Blooms said a conservative estimated cost of harmful algal blooms for the the US was about $50 million, but experts say expenses are hard to quantify. A 2024 study estimated losses to tourism-related businesses during the 2018 Florida red tide bloom at $US2.7 billion. Dr Deming said the US government agencies continued to have monitoring and management practices in place to support the commercial seafood industry. "Being able to have good federal and state agencies that can do surveillance to test to ensure seafood is safe for the public, as well as trying to come up with preventative measures or best management practices to prevent blooms, … are really high priority items," she said. "We're happy we have some of those systems in place, but there's absolutely room for improvement I think all around the world to help prevent the conditions that support these really long lasting and devastating blooms." Other algal blooms have also wreaked havoc in other parts of the world. An algae surge choked to death an estimated 40,000 tonnes of salmon in Chile in 2016 while hundreds of elephant deaths in Botswana in 2020 were linked to cyanobacteria, often called blue-green algae in Australia. The scale of each harmful algal bloom event seems to be increasing, professor Gretta Pecl from the University of Tasmania's Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies told the ABC. "If there isn't something done to mitigate, to reduce climate emissions, warming will continue and these kinds of events will be more and more likely," she said. US research biologist at NOAA Fisheries Kathi Lefebvre, who has been studying harmful algal blooms for 25 years, said the blooms were getting worse and reaching areas "where we used to not have problems". "It is turning out to be a major impact of climate change." Authorities in South Australia have linked South Australia's algal bloom to climate change, and state and federal governments have pledged a collective $28 million for a suite of measures to tackle the algal bloom, including more funding for testing. Dr Lefebvre said authorities needed to take action now to mitigate the effects of future blooms. "What's going to happen if these blooms are going to be continuing is that there's going to need to be ways to test for toxins … to protect human health," Dr Lefebvre said. "The more information we have, the better decisions we can make.

Donald Trump claims Beyonce, Oprah broke law in Harris endorsement deal
Donald Trump claims Beyonce, Oprah broke law in Harris endorsement deal

News.com.au

time10 hours ago

  • News.com.au

Donald Trump claims Beyonce, Oprah broke law in Harris endorsement deal

Beyonce. Oprah Winfrey. Kamala Harris. US President Donald Trump has taken aim at the trio of influential women, saying they 'should be prosecuted' during a stunning late-night rant. Mr Trump took to Truth Social to unleash in a major way, posting the rant at 7.45pm Scotland time, where he is currently on a weekend golfing trip. Mr Trump alleged that Beyonce never sang despite being paid USD$11 (AUD$16) million to endorse Mrs Harris before her speech at a campaign rally in Houston, Texas. Mr Trump also highlighted amounts allegedly paid to talk show host Oprah and TV personality Reverend Al Sharpton. He also said the large amount of money spent by his Democratic opponents during the 2024 election will be reviewed, and that payment was 'probably illegally' made. 'I'm looking at the large amount of money owed by the Democrats, after the Presidential Election, and the fact that they admit to paying, probably illegally, Eleven Million Dollars to singer Beyoncé for an ENDORSEMENT (she never sang, not one note, and left the stage to a booing and angry audience!), Three Million Dollars for 'expenses', to Oprah, Six Hundred Thousand Dollars to very low rated TV 'anchor', Al Sharpton (a total lightweight!), and others to be named for doing, absolutely nothing!', Mr Trump posted on Truth Social. 'These ridiculous fees were incorrectly stated in the books and records. YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO PAY FOR AN ENDORSEMENT. IT IS TOTALLY ILLEGAL TO DO SO. 'Can you imagine what would happen if politicians started paying for people to endorse them. All hell would break out! Kamala, and all of those that received Endorsement money, BROKE THE LAW.' He continued: 'They should all be prosecuted! Thank you for your attention to this matter.' However, there's no evidence that those named in Mr Trump's post received payment for their endorsement by the Democratic campaign. Oprah previously said she 'was not paid a dime' for the appearance, however 'the people who worked on that production needed to be paid. And were. End of story'. The Harris campaign has also denied making any endorsement payment for Beyonce. Mr Trump has made similar allegations previously. In December, he wrote that 'Beyoncé didn't sing, Oprah didn't do much of anything (she called it 'expenses') and Al is just a third-rate conman'. He's also no stranger to using legal threats. Beyonce and Oprah aren't the only celebrities Mr Trump has criticised. Earlier this week, he addressed CBS' shocking decision to cancel The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, seemingly suggesting that other late night hosts should get a similar treatment. Of particular focus was his longtime critic, Jimmy Kimmel. 'I absolutely love that Colbert got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings,' Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. 'I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next. Has even less talent than Colbert!' Mr Kimmel and Mr Trump have reportedly been feuding for years. When Mr Trump won the presidency in 2024, Mr Kimmel called it a 'terrible night' for democracy and announced he was on Trump's 'list of enemies'.

Private jet attendant reveals what the super wealthy are really like at 45,000 feet
Private jet attendant reveals what the super wealthy are really like at 45,000 feet

News.com.au

time20 hours ago

  • News.com.au

Private jet attendant reveals what the super wealthy are really like at 45,000 feet

In 2015, Danielle Styron, then 32, was offered her dream job as a private jet flight attendant. It promised a six-figure salary, trips to luxury resorts and full benefits. It seemed too good to be true — and it was, reports NY Post. Over the course of two phone interviews, the pilot continually hinted at the 'alternative lifestyle' of the plane's owner, a religious man who split his time flying with his family half the month and with his girlfriends the other half. As the conversation went on, it became clear the role involved participating in orgies with the girlfriends on-board while the owner watched. 'We only fly them once a month, so it's not like you have to be a lesbian, you would just need to have fun with them,' the pilot assured her. Ms Styron writes about the seedy job interview — and the seven years she spent flying with the rich and famous — in her dishy new memoir 'The Mile High Club: Confessions of a Private Jet Flight Attendant', co-written with her brother, James Styron. 'Names have been changed to protect (us from) the malevolent,' the intro reads. 'Behaviours have been presented to humble them. You know who you are.' Ms Styron, now 41 and living in New York, didn't end up taking the job with the orgy-loving jet owner, but she went on to work for a number of difficult people. Some of her clients, she writes, were 'miserable, vampires of human joy.' One passenger berated her for not having the proper tequila stocked, even though it wasn't requested. Food-obsessed wives micromanaged everything that came out of the galley kitchen. An assistant threatened to punch her in the face over a not-hot-enough breakfast sandwich. Then there was the time a woman shoved Ms Styron into a bulkhead mid-turbulence because her beloved puppies got jostled. 'She treated the dogs better than any human on board,' Ms Styron writes. One of her lowest points was being asked to source champagne on the tropical island of St. Maarten, just after it had been devastated by a hurricane. The client demanded bubbles despite the natural disaster. 'I'm standing there thinking, 'There's no champagne. There was just a major hurricane. People are standing outside waiting for bread, and you're asking me to spend $US20,000 on bubbly,'' Styron told The Post. There was only one supermarket open, which Ms Styron begrudgingly patronised in search of the requested Champs. 'It felt dystopian,' she said. Then there was the two-timing bigwig who would fly with his pregnant wife one day and his mistress a few days later. 'As a woman, it was hurtful to be a part of that,' she said. 'Even though I had no choice. What was I going to do, blow my life up to be like, 'Yo, your man's cheating on you?' She probably already knew.' Sometimes, as the title of the book suggests, passengers got intimate in flight. She and her crew knew the drill: retreat to the front, let the guests go at it, and deal with the clean-up later. 'It's usually in the bathroom, galley, or right there on the sofa,' she writes. 'It's their house, right? Private jets are like flying living rooms.' Despite the uncomfortable situations and challenging passengers, the jobs also entailed plenty of good times and perks. She partied in Las Vegas with pilots and jetted off to Costa Rica, Aspen and St. Barts. One time in Los Angeles, the plane broke down on the tarmac, a typical mechanical delay. Ms Styron was tasked with keeping the charter guests fed and entertained while the pilots tried to fix the plane. The lead passenger was none other than actor and comedian Jamie Foxx. Unlike most high-profile clients, he took the delay in stride. He was 'the most delightful celebrity,' she said. 'He was cracking jokes and telling stories. He was pure light. [After three hours on the ground,] we were out of food, the mimosas were gone, people were losing patience, but not Jamie. He was still smiling. Still gracious. It restored my faith in humanity.' Misery, however, seemed to be more the norm. 'You think these people have it all,' she said. 'But I saw the opposite. They're really insecure. Their friends are all about one-upmanship. One man owned several planes, had a beautiful wife, everything in the world, and he was obsessing about his hair plugs. Like who cares?' Ms Styron ultimately retired from aviation and went back to doing what she'd done before, working as an esthetician. She now owns Fluff NYC, a brow and skincare studio on the Upper East Side, where she tends to people's faces — not their egos. 'It's less glamorous,' she said with a laugh, 'but way more peaceful.'

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