Naaman v Sleiman [2014] NSWSC 1869

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Naaman v Sleiman [2014] NSWSC 1869 Hearing dates: 15, 17-18 December 2014 Decision date: 24 December 2014 Jurisdiction: Equity Division Before: Stevenson J Decision: Plaintiff's claim dismissed Catchwords: CONTRACT - construction - whether contract of employment - to what damages plaintiff entitled when terminated contract of employment - defendant paid plaintiff's mortgage - common ground defendant subrogated to mortgagee's rights - whether defendant entitled to balance of proceeds of sale Cases Cited: Australia Mutual Provident Society v Allan (1978) 52 ALJR 407 Automatic Fire Sprinklers Pty Ltd v Watson (1946) 72 CLR 435 Cochrane v Cochrane (1985) 3 NSWLR 403 Fitzgerald v Masters (1956) 95 CLR 420 Ghana Commercial Bank v Chandiram [1960] AC 732 Hollis v Vabu Pty Ltd [2001] HCA 44; 207 CLR 21 Massey v Crown Life Insurance Co [1978] 1 WLR 676 Plaimar Ltd v Waters Trading Co Ltd [1945] ALR 469 Westpac Banking Corporation v Tanzone Pty Ltd [2000] NSWCA 25; 9 BPR 17, 521 Texts Cited: N Seddon, R Bigwood and M Ellinghaus, Cheshire and Fifoot Law of Contract, (10th Aust ed 2012) R P Meagher, J D Heydon and M J Leeming, Meagher, Gummow & Lehane's "Equity: Doctrines and Remedies" (4th ed, 2002) I Neil and D Chin, The Modern Contract of Employment, (2012, Lawbook Co) C Sappideen, P O'Grady, J Riley and G Warburton, Macken's Law of Employment, (7th ed, 2011, Lawbook Co) Category: Principal judgment Parties: Anthony Naaman (Plaintiff) Peter Sleiman (First Defendant) Jaken Properties Australia Pty Ltd as trustee for the Sly Fox Family Trust (Second Defendant) Jaken Property Group (In Liquidation) Third Defendant) Representation: Counsel: H Woods with M Char (Plaintiff) J C Kelly SC with D P O'Connor (First and Second Defendants) Solicitors: KB Legals Pty Ltd (Plaintiff) Logan Fox (First and Second Defendants) SRM Lawyers (Third Defendant) File Number(s): SC 2009/289622