Smith v Ventia Pty Ltd [2023] NSWSC 517

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Smith v Ventia Pty Ltd [2023] NSWSC 517 Hearing dates: 24 April 2023 Date of orders: 12 May 2023 Decision date: 17 May 2023 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: Fagan J Decision: 1 Pursuant to r 13.4 of the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 the proceedings be dismissed. 2 Costs are reserved. Catchwords: EMPLOYMENT AND INDUSTRIAL LAW – contract – implied terms – whether contract contained implied term of good faith – whether employer's independent discretion to terminate employment on notice without cause subject to implied term of reasonableness CONTRACTS – remedies – damages – causation – whether employee's loss of earnings following termination attributable to employer's failure to act in good faith during subsistence of the employment – whether employer's earlier breach of good faith term could be causative of employer's own decision to terminate – employer's exercise of independent discretion broke the chain of causation to loss of earnings damages CIVIL PROCEDURE — summary disposal — dismissal of proceedings — no reasonable cause of action disclosed Legislation Cited: Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW), r 13.4 Cases Cited: Russell v The Trustees of the Roman Catholic Church [2007] NSWSC 104 Russell v The Trustees of The Roman Catholic Church [2008] NSWCA 217 Van Efferen v CMA Corporation Limited [2009] FCA 597 Addis v Gramophone Co Ltd [1909] AC 488 Johnson v Unisys Ltd [2003] 1 AC 518 Codelfa Construction Pty Ltd v State Rail Authority of NSW (1982) 149 CLR 337; [1982] HCA 24 Bartlett v Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (2016) 92 NSWLR 30; [2016] NSWCA 30 Texts Cited: JD Heydon, Heydon on Contract, 2019, Thomson Reuters Category: Principal judgment Parties: Erol Smith (plaintiff) Ventia Pty Ltd (defendant) Representation: Counsel: R Kumar (plaintiff) M Watts (defendant)