NSW Caselaw
New South Wales Supreme Court
CITATION : Tullett Prebon (Australia) Pty Limited v Purcell [2009] NSWSC 1079
HEARING DATE(S) : 9 September 2009
JUDGMENT DATE : 9 October 2009
JURISDICTION : Equity Division
JUDGMENT OF : Ward J
DECISION : Judgment for the plaintiff
CATCHWORDS : EMPLOYMENT LAW - the contract of service and rights, duties and liabilities as between employer and employee - discharge and breach - contract of employment between plaintiff employer and defendant employee subsisted but employment relationship did not - defendant failed to respond to a direction by the plaintiff to attend for work - plaintiff purported to terminate contract and claim debt under liquidated damages clause - whether plaintiff entitled to terminate for breach or repudiation - whether plaintiff's conduct in previous proceedings had waived right to issue direction or rendered present proceedings an abuse of process - held that plaintiff entitled to terminate contract - plaintiff had not waived right and present proceedings not an abuse of process - CONTRACTS - general contractual principles - construction and interpretation of contracts - penalties and liquidated damages - liquidated damages calculated by multiplying half of average monthly brokerage by number of months remaining in contract with minimum fixed term - whether clause unenforceable as a penalty - whether a genuine pre-estimate of loss - whether out of all proportion to damage likely to be suffered - held that clause not a penalty - clause was a genuine pre-estimate of loss - not out of all proportion to damage likely to be suffered
CATEGORY : Principal judgment
Alcatel Australia Limited v Scarcella (1998) 44 NSWLR 349 Australian National Airlines Commission v Robinson [1977] VR 87 Automatic Fire Sprinklers Pty Limited v Watson (1946) 72 CLR 435 Bechaz v Mariah Hovercraft Australia Pty Limited [2005] AIRC 252 Byrne v Australian Airlines Limited (1995) 185 CLR 410 Consolidated Press Limited v Thompson (1952) 52 SR (NSW) 75 Dunlop Pneumatic Tyres Pty Limited v New Garage & Motor Co Limited [1915] AC 79 Eastwood v Magnox Electric plc [2005] 1 AC 503 Foran v Wight (1988) 168 CLR 385 Gunton v Richmond-on-Thames London Borough Council [1981] 1 Ch 448 Harrison v P & T Tube Mills Pty Limited [2009] FCA 220 Koompahtoo Local Aboriginal Council v Sanpine (2007) 233 CLR 115 Laws v London Chronicle (Indicator Newspapers) Limited [1959] 1 WLR 698 CASES CITED : Murray v Leisureplay plc [2005] EWCA Civ 963 Pastrycooks v Gartrell White (No 3) (1990) 35 IR 70 Peter Turnbull & Co Limited v Mundus Trading Co (Australasia) Pty Limited (1954) 90 CLR 235 R v Dowling Island Stevedoring and Lighterage Co Limited Ex parte Halliday & Sullivan (1938) 60 CLR 601 Rigby v Ferodo Limited [1988] ICR 29 Ringrow Pty Limited v BP Australia Pty Limited (2005) 224 CLR 656 Russell v The Trustees of the Roman Catholic Church for the Archdiocese of Sydney (2007) 69 NSWLR 198 Sargent v ASL Developments (1974) 131 CLR 634 Thomas Marshall (Exports) Limited v Guinle [1979] Ch 227 Tullett Prebon (Australia) Pty Ltd v Simon Purcell [2008] NSWSC 437 Tullett Prebon (Australia) Pty Ltd v Simon Purcell [2008] NSWSC 852 Turner v Australian Coal & Shale Employees' Federation (1984) 6 FCR 177 Visscher v the Honourable President Justice Guidice (2009) 258 ALR 651
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