Declan Murphy

Declan specialises in a range of employment and trade union matters, including sexual harassment, union litigation, unfair dismissal, misleading and deceptive conduct, general protections, discrimination, anti-bullying applications, workplace investigations and restraints of trade.

• defending a senior Commonwealth public servant from an unfair workplace investigation and settling the dispute for over $250,000;
• suing a major Commonwealth employer for sexual harassment and settling the claim for a sum equivalent to 13 years’ salary;
• successfully representing trade unions in Fair Work Commission arbitrations: see, for example, CPSU v Library Board of Victoria [2020] FWC 5521, CPSU v Victoria State Emergency Service Authority [2019] FWC 137 and Australian Municipal, Administrative, Clerical and Services Union v Moreland City Council [2017] FWC 3283;
• acting on behalf of 7-Eleven workers who were systematically underpaid by their employers.
• representing an underpaid migrant worker in the Federal Circuit Court and achieving over a year’s wages in back-pay: Nasirian v Sarvastani [2020] FCCA 355
   

Before joining Maurice Blackburn's employment team, Declan graduated with first class honours in Law at Monash University. He has worked in a diverse range of legal practice areas, including Workcover, superannuation and institutional abuse.

Memberships and accreditations

• Law Institute of Victoria member

"Just wanted to thank you for all your hard work, advice and expertise recently when I found myself in a spot of bother… You kept me focussed and steered me back to reality when my emotion and stress took me off course… I could not have got the same result without you. You are a star.'" -  Senior Executive, 2018