Campbell v Encyclopaedia Britannica Australia Ltd [2008] NSWSC 1178

New South Wales Supreme Court

CITATION : Campbell v Encyclopaedia Britannica Australia Ltd [2008] NSWSC 1178

HEARING DATE(S) : 3, 4 & 5 November 2008

JUDGMENT DATE : 11 November 2008

JURISDICTION : Equity Division

JUDGMENT OF : Bergin J

DECISION : Plaintiff entited to recover the balance of redundancy package; plaintiff entitled to nine months notice.

CATCHWORDS : [CONTRACT] - contract of employment - termination of employment - whether contract included a provision fixing period of notice for termination without cause - whether termination was "a redundancy"

CATEGORY : Principal judgment

Byrne v Australian Airlines Ltd (1995) 185 CLR 410 Caulfield v Broken Hill City Council (1995) 60 IR 221 Dyer v Peverill (1979) 2 NTR 1 Hem v Cant (2007) 159 IR 113 CASES CITED : Jones v Department of Energy and Minerals (1995) 60 IR 304 Quinn v Jack Chia (Australia) Ltd [1992] 1 VR 567 R v Industrial Commission (SA); Ex parte Adelaide Milk Supply Co-operative Ltd (1977) 16 SASR 6 Rankin v Marine Power International Pty Ltd (2001) 107 IR 117 Savage v British India Steam Navigation Co (1930) 46 TLR 294

PARTIES : David Campbell (Plaintiff) Encyclopaedia Britannica Australia Ltd (Defendant)

FILE NUMBER(S) : SC 5617 of 2006

COUNSEL : Mr AJ McInerney (Plaintiff) Ms PM Sibtain (Defendant)

SOLICITORS : Carneys Lawyers (Plaintiff) TressCox Lawyers (Defendant)

- 1 - IN THE SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES EQUITY DIVISION

BERGIN J

11 NOVEMBER 2008

5617/06 DAVID CAMPBELL v ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA AUSTRALIA LTD & ANOR JUDGMENT 1 The plaintiff, David Campbell, sues the defendant, Encyclopaedia Britannica Australia Limited, his former employer, for damages for breach of contract. The plaintiff claims that the defendant breached its contract with him by failing to pay him the appropriate amount when his employment was terminated in August 2006. He claims that the termination was an event of redundancy or alternatively that the defendant failed to give him reasonable notice of his termination. The defendant denies that the termination was a redundancy and denies that it failed to provide the plaintiff with proper notice. The parties 2 The defendant was established in 1963. In about 1999 it was restructured and split into two entities: Britannica.com.au Limited and Encyclopaedia Britannica Australia Pty Limited. In 2002 these two companies ceased operation and thereafter a single company operated the business in Australia returning to its original name, Encyclopaedia Britannica Australia Limited. The defendant is a company incorporated in Delaware USA and is registered as a foreign corporation in Australia. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of a USA corporation, Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc., that has its head office in Chicago. The defendant has been referred to in evidence as EBA and the holding company has been referred to as EBUSA. Another company within the group, Britannica Asia Pacific Pty Limited, an Australian company, operated the business in the Asia/Pacific region. At the relevant time the defendant had a broad product range including more than 100 different products in paper, electronic, video and online form.