Sutton v BE Australia WD Pty Ltd (No 3) [2017] NSWSC 689

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Sutton v BE Australia WD Pty Ltd (No 3) [2017] NSWSC 689 Hearing dates: 25 November 2016; 9 and 27 February 2017 Date of orders: 01 June 2017 Decision date: 01 June 2017 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: Walton J Decision: The plaintiff shall bring in short minutes of order of the declarations which the Court proposes to make in accordance with this judgment within 7 days. Further, the plaintiff shall file further submissions as to the settlement reached with the second defendant and interest in accordance with this judgment within 28 days of the publication of judgment. Leave is granted to the file further evidence by affidavit bearing upon those issues within the same timeframe. Catchwords: UNFAIR CONTRACT – ex parte proceedings – claim for declaratory relief and monetary payments pursuant to s 106(1) and (5) of the Industrial Relations Act 1996 – whether the contract or arrangement was unfair, harsh or unconscionable or against the public interest – transitional provisions – regard to record of Industrial Court save for evidence objected to – arrangements constituted contract for purposes of s 106 – no jurisdictional barrier under s 108A the Industrial Relations Commission Rules 2009 – grounds concern unfairness regarding termination, bullying and disparagement – no protection from arbitrary and immediate termination – termination without notice – contract unfair in operation – termination likely to and did cause the plaintiff to suffer hurt, distress and humiliation – no protection from bullying and harassment – no provision for the timely resolution of any complaint or grievance – insufficient evidence to support disparagement ground – contract was unfair and harsh for the purposes of s 105(1)(a) – declaratory relief granted – monetary orders – relevant common law principle regarding notice – additional factors under s 106 – compensation for distress, stress, damage to reputation and humiliation – mitigation – settlement second defendant – avoiding risk of double counting – interest, costs – directions for further submissions and evidence Legislation Cited: Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW) Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) Industrial Relations Act 1996 (NSW) Industrial Relations Amendment (Industrial Court) Act 2016 (NSW) Industrial Relations Commission Rules 2009 (NSW) Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1946 (NSW) Uniform Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW) Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW) Cases Cited: Abboud v State of New South Wales (Department of School Education) (1999) 92 IR 32; [1999] NSWIRComm 449 AHI Healthcare Systems v Clinical Associates of Australia [2001] NSWIRComm 38 AOS Group Australia Pty Ltd (in liquidation) v Arrogante (2004) 135 IR 44; [2004] NSWIRComm 80 Australian Co-operative Foods Ltd v SW & JD Reilly and Sons Pty Ltd (2011) 80 NSWLR 575; [2011] NSWCA 148 Barclays Australia Investment Services Ltd v Nordby (1995) 99 IR 258 Banque Keyser Ullman SA v Skandia (UK) Insurance Co Ltd (No 2) [1988] 2 All ER 880 Bowker v Software Engineers Australia (NSW) Pty Ltd [2004] NSWIRComm 104 Brown v Rezitis (1970) 127 CLR 157; [1971] ALR 317 Brown v State of New South Wales (Department of Education and Communities) [2014] NSWIRComm 115 Cochran v Sutton [2014] NSWCA 185 Commander Australia Ltd v Kerr (2004) 134 IR 160; [2004] NSWIRComm 74 Custom Credit Corporation Ltd v Goldsmith [1976] AR (NSW) 98 English v Aradlay Insurance Brokers Pty Ltd (2005) 145 IR 129; [2005] NSWIRComm 253 Ewin v Vergara (No 3) (2013) 307 ALR 576; [2013] FCA 1311 Fish v Solution 6 Holdings Ltd (2006) 225 CLR 180; [2006] HCA 22 Gambotto v John Fairfax Publications Pty Ltd (2001) 104 IR 303; [2001] NSWIRComm 87 Hall v A&A Sheiban Pty Ltd (1989) 20 FCR 217** King v State Bank of New South Wales (No 2) (2002) 126 IR 407; [2002] NSWIRComm 353 Kwong v Stone Microsystems (Aust) Pty Ltd (1996) 82 IR 255 Lavings v Barclay Mowlem Construction (NSW) Ltd (1994) 99 IR 247 Lee v Smith (2007) EOC 93-456; [2007] FMCA 59 Legal & General Assurance Society Ltd v Stock (1993) 49 IR 464 McDonald's Australian Holdings Ltd v Industrial Relations Commission of NSW (2005) 223 ALR 78; [2005] NSWCA 286 Miletich v Murchie (2012) 297 ALR 566; [2012] FCA 1013 Nau v Kemp & Associates Pty Ltd (2010) 77 NSWLR 687; [2010] NSWCA 164 State of New South Wales v Banas (2004) 137 IR 63; [2004] NSWIRComm 255 Nikolich v Goldman Sachs J B Were Services Pty Ltd [2006] FCA 784 Poniatowska v Hickinbotham [2009] FCA 680 Reich v Client Server Professionals of Australia Pty Ltd (2000) 49 NSWLR 551; [2000] NSWIRComm 143 Richardson v Oracle Corporation (Australia) Pty Ltd (2014) 223 FCR 334; [2014] FCAFC 82 Ross v GM Context (Australia) Pty Ltd (2000) 107 IR 1; [2000] NSWIRComm 133 Shankland v Beta Alistine Pty Ltd (ACN 108 128 534) [2007] NSWIRComm 111 Strathfield Group Ltd v Hall (2002) 121 IR 158; [2002] NSWIRComm 373 Sutton v BearingPoint Australia Pty Limited [2008] NSWIRComm 161 Sutton v BE Australia WD Pty Limited ACN 093 054 623 (subject to deed of company arrangement) [2013] NSWIRComm 104 BE Australia WD Pty Ltd (subject to a Deed of Company Arrangement) v Sutton (2011) 82 NSWLR 336; [2011] NSWCA 414 Sutton v BE Australia WD Pty Ltd (No 2) [2015] NSWIC 9 Townsend v Stone Toms & Partners (1984) 27 BLR 26 Walker v Citigroup Global Markets Australia Pty Ltd (2006) 233 ALR 687; [2006] FCAFC 101 Westfield Holdings Pty Ltd v Adams (2001) 114 IR 241; [2001] NSWIRComm 293 Wheelahan v North Coast Area Health Service [2008] NSWIRComm 164 Texts Cited: Practice Note SC CL 3 – Administrative & Industrial Law List Category: Principal judgment Parties: Mary Sutton (plaintiff) BE Australia WD Pty Ltd (first defendant) Representation: Counsel: M Gibian (plaintiff) (ex parte)