Ware v Amaral Pastoral Pty Ltd (No 5) [2012] NSWSC 1550

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Ware v Amaral Pastoral Pty Ltd (No 5) [2012] NSWSC 1550 Hearing dates: 30 & 31 July, 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8 and 31 August 2012 Decision date: 14 December 2012 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: Beech-Jones J Decision: Plaintiff succeeds against First Defendant on claim for back pay, payment in lieu of notice and tractor hire but fails on claim for bonus. First Defendant partially successful on cross claim for recovery of payment made for bore drilling. Cross claim otherwise dismissed. Catchwords: CONTRACT - employment contract - farm manager terminated - recovery of unpaid wages and superannuation - whether implied term requiring reasonable notice - whether conduct warranted summary dismissal - whether entitled to bonus - contract for tractor hire - whether oral agreement - whether term deferring payment until farm's cash flow allowed void for uncertainty - whether implied term that entitlement to payment for tractor hire arises on termination of employment contract - whether unauthorised self-dealing - whether breach of obligation of good faith and fidelity - whether breach of fiduciary duty - findings of credit adverse to defendant. Legislation Cited: Evidence Act 1995 - s 64(3) Cases Cited: - BP Refinery (Westernport) Pty Ltd v Hastings Shire Council (1977) 180 CLR 266 - Briginshaw v Briginshaw [1938] HCA 34; 60 CLR 336 - Byrne v Australian Airlines Ltd [1995] HCA 24; 185 CLR 410 - Codelfa Construction Pty Ltd v State Rail Authority of New South Wales [1982] HCA 24; 149 CLR 337 - Crawford Fitting Co v Sydney Valve & Fittings Pty Ltd (1988) 14 NSWLR 438 - Fettes v Robertson [1921] WN 136 - Fox v Percy [2003] HCA 22; 214 CLR 118 - Hawkins v Clayton [1988] HCA 15; 164 CLR 539 - Head v Kelk [1962] NSWR 1363; (1961) 80 WN (NSW) 290 - Jones v Dunkel [1959] HCA 8; 101 CLR 298 - Ledingham v Bermejo Estancia Co Ltd [1947] 1 All ER 749 - Lumbers v W Cook Builders Pty Ltd [2008] HCA 27; 232 CLR 635 - Meehan v Jones [1982] HCA 52; 149 CLR 571 - Miller v JLCS Pty Ltd [2007] FCA 74; 158 FCR 1 - Secured Income Real Estate (Australia) Ltd v St Martins Investments Pty Ltd [1979] HCA 51; 144 CLR 596 - Ware v Amaral Pastoral Pty Ltd (No 4) [2012] NSWSC 920 - Watson v Foxman (1995) 49 NSWLR 315 - White v Shortall [2006] NSWSC 1379; 68 NSWLR 650 Texts Cited: A.M. Gleeson, "Judicial Legitimacy" (2000) 20 Aust Bar Rev 4 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Peter Michael Ware (Plaintiff/Cross Defendant) Amaral Pastoral Pty Ltd (First Defendant/ Cross Claimant) Gregory Scott Amaral (Second Defendant) Representation: Counsel: Mr R.J. Weber SC, Ms A. Munro (Plaintiff/ Cross Defendant) Mr G. Curtin SC, Mr S. Gardiner (Defendants/ Cross Claimant) Solicitors: Slater & Gordon (Plaintiff/Cross Defendant) Henry Davis York (Defendants/Cross Claimant) File Number(s): 2009/297486