Chandrasekaran v Western Sydney Local Health District [2021] NSWSC 920

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Chandrasekaran v Western Sydney Local Health District [2021] NSWSC 920 Decision date: 29 July 2021 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: Button J Decision: Verdict and judgment for each defendant Catchwords: CONTRACTS — misleading conduct under statute — misleading or deceptive conduct EMPLOYMENT AND INDUSTRIAL LAW — contract — breach TORTS — economic torts — injurious falsehood EQUITY — breach of confidence — conduct constituting breach Locum appointment of psychiatrist plaintiff as a VMO by Health District, first defendant – appointment facilitated by employment agency, second defendant – conversation between clinical director and plaintiff – subsequent purported early termination – notification of concerns about plaintiff to professional and regulatory bodies – misdirected email of employee of employment agency – whether crucial conversation anodyne or sinister – whether breach of confidence – whether misleading or deceptive conduct – whether injurious falsehood – whether breach of contract – various primary and contingent analyses – all claims rejected against both defendants Legislation Cited: Health Services Act 1997 (NSW) Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth), Sch 2 – Australian Consumer Law, s 18 Cases Cited: Australand Holdings Ltd v Transparency and Accountability Council Incorporated [2008] NSWSC 669 Briginshaw v Briginshaw (1938) 60 CLR 336; [1938] HCA 34 Campomar Sociedad Limitada v Nike International Ltd (2000) 202 CCLR 45; [2000] HCA 12 Chandrasekaran, In the matter of an application for leave to issue or file [2021] HCATrans 77 Coco v A N Clark (Engineers) Ltd [1968] F.S.R. 415 Corrs Pavey Whiting & Byrne v Collector of Customs (Vic) (1987) 14 FCR 434 Henville v Walker (2001) 206 CLR 459; [2001] HCA 52 Moore v Scenic Tours Ltd (2020) 377 CLR 209; [2020] HCA 17 Palmer Bruyn & Parker Pty Ltd v Parsons (2001) 208 CLR 388; [2001] HCA 69 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Sujatha Chandrasekaran (Plaintiff) Western Sydney Local Health District (First defendant) Charterhouse Medical Pty Ltd (Second defendant) Representation: Counsel: P King and D Toohey (Plaintiff) T Wong SC and R Pietriche (First defendant) K Petch (Second defendant)