Howard v Surf Life Saving New South Wales [2019] NSWSC 1212

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Howard v Surf Life Saving New South Wales [2019] NSWSC 1212 Hearing dates: 16 August 2019 Date of orders: 13 September 2019 Decision date: 13 September 2019 Jurisdiction: Equity Before: Pembroke J Decision: See paragraph [20] Catchwords: PROCEDURAL FAIRNESS – failure to comply with regulations – fairness to plaintiff Category: Principal judgment Parties: Graham William Howard – plaintiff Surf Life Saving New South Wales – defendant Representation: Counsel: Mr J Sheller – for the plaintiff Dr E Peden – for the defendant

Solicitors: Greg Walsh & Co – for the plaintiff Hall & Wilcox Lawyers – for the defendant File Number(s): 2018/286929

Judgment

Introduction 1. At the conclusion of the hearing on 16 August I announced that I would give judgment and make orders in favour of the plaintiff. The plaintiff and the defendant did not initially require reasons but the circumstances changed and the plaintiff has now requested reasons. This, it seems, is partly to ensure that the defendant does not repeat the mistakes that I have found that it made in this case. 2. The issue giving rise to this litigation arose from a determination by the defendant's Judiciary Committee on 8 June 2018 to suspend the plaintiff from membership of the North Palm Beach Surf Life Saving Club for a period of two years. That determination was the consequence of a hearing of the Judiciary Committee on 25 May 2018. 3. I made clear during argument that the Judiciary Committee hearing was legally flawed and that the determination must be set aside. The defendant is, of course, at liberty to proceed again, if so advised.