Inghams Enterprises Pty Limited v Francis Gregory Hannigan [2019] NSWSC 1186

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Inghams Enterprises Pty Limited v Francis Gregory Hannigan [2019] NSWSC 1186 Hearing dates: 5 September 2019 Date of orders: 16 September 2019 Decision date: 16 September 2019 Jurisdiction: Equity - Duty List Before: Slattery J Decision: The defendant is entitled to refer the dispute with the plaintiff to arbitration under the Contract, clause 23.6. Plaintiff ordered to pay the defendant's costs of the proceedings. Catchwords: CONTRACTS — Construction — Interpretation – defendant grows poultry for the plaintiff – dispute arises – defendant claims damages for plaintiff's wrongful termination of a contract to supply poultry growing – wrongful termination established in previous proceedings – defendant issues Notice of Dispute invoking an arbitration clause in the contract with the plaintiff – plaintiff contests defendant's entitlement to refer the dispute to arbitration – whether the defendant's claim for damages for breach of contract is a "dispute" within the arbitration clause of the contract, because the dispute does not concern "any monetary amount payable and/or owed by either party" to the other under the agreement – whether, having commenced and conducted the earlier proceedings through to final judgment, the defendant has waived any entitlement to arbitrate the dispute and is now estopped from referring it to arbitration. Legislation Cited: Civil Procedure Act 2005, s 56 Cases Cited: Mount Bruce Mining Pty Ltd v Wright Prospecting Pty Ltd (2015) 256 CLR 104 Electricity Generation Corp v Woodside Energy Ltd; Woodside Energy Ltd v Electricity Generation Corp (2014) 251 CLR 640 Expense Reduction Analysts Group Pty Ltd v Armstrong Strategic Management and Marketing Pty Ltd (2013) 250 CLR 303 Francis Travel Marketing Pty Ltd v Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd (1996) 39 NSWLR 160 Grocon Constructors (Victoria) Pty Ltd v APN DF2 Project 2 Pty Ltd [2015] VSCA 190 Grundt v Great Boulder Pty Gold Mines Ltd (1937) 59 CLR 641 Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd v Rinehart & Ors (2017) 350 ALR 658 Hannigan v Inghams Enterprises Pty Ltd [2019] NSWSC 321 Photo Production Ltd v Securicor Transport Ltd (1980) AC 827 Rinehart v Welker (2012) 95 NSWLR 221 Category: Procedural and other rulings Parties: Plaintiff: Inghams Enterprises Pty Limited Defendant: Francis Gregory Hannigan Representation: Counsel: Plaintiff: P.S. Braham SC; D. Neggo Defendant: M. Henry SC