Paul Fishlock v The Campaign Palace Pty Limited [2013] NSWSC 531

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Paul Fishlock v The Campaign Palace Pty Limited [2013] NSWSC 531 Hearing dates: 18, 19, 20, 21 February 2013, oral submissions 20 March 2013, further oral submissions 3 April 2013 Decision date: 09 May 2013 Jurisdiction: Equity Division Before: Sackar J Decision: See paragraph [324]. Catchwords: CONTRACTS - terms of contract - employment contract does not specify the duties of the employee - whether post-contract conduct of the parties can be used to identify the terms, subject matter or scope of application of an employment contract which does not specify the employee's duties.

CONTRACTS - repudiation - whether the extent of alteration to the employee's position or status amounted to a repudiation of the employment contract - whether an employee can rely on after-acquired information to justify termination of the employment contract.

CONTRACTS - assessment of damages - relevance of probable course of events if the contract was not repudiated - mitigation - whether the employee failed to act reasonably to mitigate loss.

EMPLOYMENT LAW - long service leave - no dispute - payable where employer repudiates contract of employment - redundancy payment - whether employee entitled to redundancy payment under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) - whether employment was terminated at the initiative of the employer where the employee accepted the employer's repudiation - whether the employment was terminated because the employer no longer required the employee's job to be done by anyone.

TRADE AND COMMERCE - restraints of trade - relevant principles - non-operation of restraint provisions where employment contract repudiated by employer. Legislation Cited: Long Service Leave Act 1955 Restraints of Trade Act 1976 Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) Industrial Relations Act 1988 (Cth) Workplace Relations Act 1996 (Cth) Cases Cited: Administration of Papua and New Guinea v Daera Guba (1973) 130 CLR 353 Afovos Shipping Co SA v Pagnan [1983] 1 WLR 195 Agricultural and Rural Finance Pty Ltd v Gardiner (2008) 238 CLR 570 Barras v Aberdeen Steam Trawling and Fishing Co Ltd [1933] AC 402 Boston Deep Sea Fishing and Ice Co v Ansell (1888) 39 Ch D 339 Brambles Holdings Ltd v Bathurst City Council (2001) 53 NSWLR 153 Buckley v Tutty (1971) 125 CLR 353 C H Magill v National Australia Bank Ltd [2001] NSWCA 221 Cactus Imaging Pty Ltd v Peters (2006) 71 NSWLR 9 Cameron v Asciano Services Pty Limited [2011] VSC 36 Commonwealth Homes and Investments Co Ltd v MacKellar (1939) 63 CLR 351 Commonwealth v Amann Aviation Pty Ltd (1991) 174 CLR 64 Concut Pty Ltd v Worrell (2000) 176 ALR 693 County Securities Pty Limited v Challenger Group Holdings Pty Limited [2008] NSWCA 193 Curro v Beyond Productions Pty Ltd (1993) 30 NSWLR 337 Delaney v Staples [1992] 1 AC 687 Downer EDI Limited v Gillies [2012] NSWCA 333 Easling v Mahoney Insurance Brokers (2001) 78 SASR 489 Electrolux Home Products Pty Ltd v Australian Workers' Union (2004) 221 CLR 309 Ex parte Campbell (1870) LR 5 Ch App 703 Fardell v Coates Hire Operations Pty Ltd [2010] NSWSC 346 Gillies v Downer EDI Ltd [2013] HCATrans 81 Hide & Skin Trading Pty Ltd v Oceanic Meat Traders Ltd (1990) 20 NSWLR 310 Jardin v Metcash Ltd [2011] NSWCA 409 John Fairfax Publications Ltd v Birt [2006] NSWSC 995 Keays v J P Morgan Administrative Services Australia Ltd [2012] FCAFC 100 Lane v Arrowcrest Group Pty Ltd (1990) 27 FCR 427 Laurinda Pty Ltd v Capalaba Park Shopping Centre Pty Ltd (1989) 166 CLR 623 Lewis v Motorworld Garages Limited [1986] ICR 157 Malik v Bank of Credit and Commerce International SA [1998] AC 20 McDonald v Parnell Laboratories (Aust) (2007) 168 IR 375 Mohazab v Dick Smith Electronics Pty Ltd (No 2) (1995) 62 IR 200 Nottinghamshire County Council v Meikle [2004] EWCA Civ 859 Orton v Melman [1981] 1 NSWLR 583 Otis Elevator Company Pty Limited v John Nolan [2007] NSWSC 593 Qantas Airways Ltd v Christie (1998) 193 CLR 280 Quinn v Jack Chia (Australia) Limited [1992] 1 VR 567 RDF Media Group Plc v Clements [2008] IRLR 207 Re Alcan Australia Ltd; Ex parte Federation of Industrial, Manufacturing & Engineering Employees (1994) 181 CLR 96 Reilly v Praxa Ltd [2004] ACTSC 41 Robinson v Harman (1848) 1 Ex 850 Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust v South Sydney City Council (2002) 240 CLR 45 Seven Network (Operations) Ltd v Warburton (No 2) [2011] NSWSC 386 Shepherd v Felt & Textiles of Australia Ltd (1931) 45 CLR 359 Shevill v Builders Licensing Board (1982) 149 CLR 620 Sidameneo (No 456) Pty Ltd v Alexander [2011] NSWCA 418 Sperandio v Lynch (No 2) [2006] FCA 1838 Sportsvision Australia Pty Ltd v Tallglen Pty Ltd (1998) 44 NSWLR 103 Sunbird Plaza Pty Ltd v Maloney (1988) 166 CLR 245 Tasman Capital Pty Ltd v Sinclair (2008) 75 NSWLR 1 Tullet Prebon v BGC Brokers LP [2010] IRLR 648 Visscher v Giudice (2009) 239 CLR 361 Walker v Citigroup Global Markets Australia Pty Ltd (2006) 233 ALR 687 Watts v Rake (1960) 108 CLR 158 Westen v Union des Assurances de Paris (1996) 88 IR 259 Western Excavating Ltd v Sharp [1978] QB 761 White v Australian and New Zealand Theatres Ltd (1943) 67 CLR 266 Woolworths v Olson [2004] NSWCA 372 Wright v Gasweld Pty Ltd (1991) 22 NSWLR 317 Texts Cited: G H L Fridman, The Modern Law of Employment, (1963) Stevens and Sons J W Carter, The Construction of Commercial Contracts, (2013) Hart Publishing J D Heydon, Cross on Evidence, 9th edition (2013) LexisNexis Butterworths M Irving, The Contract of Employment, (2012) LexisNexis Butterworths Sappideen, O'Grady, Riley and Warburton, Macken's Law of Employment, 7th edition (2011) Thomson Reuters Category: Principal judgment Parties: Paul Fishlock (Plaintiff) The Campaign Palace Pty Limited (Defendant) Representation: Counsel: M Kimber SC, A Gotting (Plaintiff) A Moses SC, Y Shariff (Defendant) Solicitors: Watson Mangioni (Plaintiff) Norton Rose (Defendant) File Number(s): 2011/84306