Employment Court of New Zealand Te Kōti Take Mahi o Aotearoa

Contract / Applicant purchased used boat engine from Respondent / Applicant contacted Respondent / Applicant inspected the engine / Applicant and Respondent agreed on a purchase price of $8,000 / Applicant collected engine from Respondent / Applicant took engine to a motor company where company advised that the engine needed to be rebuilt / Applicant claims $8500 as refund and inspection for the motor company / Held: Transaction between parties was private / Respondent did not misrepresent the engine / Contract was not unconditional / Claim dismissed.

Negligence / Dog Control Act 1963 / Applicant was walking her dogs at the beach / Respondent was walking her dog down the beach / Respondent’s dog bit Applicants dogs / Applicant claims $,2576.22 vet fees, $65.30 for medical treatment and filling fee / Held: Respondent’s dog attacked Applicant's dog / Respondent liable to pay for vert costs and travel expenses / Respondent ordered to pay Applicant $2,676.22 / Claim allowed in part.

Diligence and due care / Immigration Advisers Licensing Act 2007, s442, s50, s51 / Code of Conduct 2014, cl1, cl19f, cl20a, cl20b / HELD / adviser failed to exercise diligence and due care by not sufficiently knowing forecasted revenue figure in business plan & incorrectly asserting he had a written confirmation of the wrong figure from INZ or that INZ had not referred to the correct figure previously / not professional or respectful in blaming complainant and INZ for his wrong advice / Tribunal does not accept adviser was dishonest, rather he lacked due care / adviser admitted failure to provide an estimate of time in written agreement when required by cl19f / fees charged not reasonable and time spent getting up to speed resolving the revenue discrepancy cannot be justified / complaint partially upheld    

Contract / Respondent purchased horse from Applicant for $6,000 / $500 was to be paid after delivery of horse / Respondent retained final payment on basis of an error made in advised height of horse / Whether misrepresentation was made about height of horse / Whether height information encouraged purchase / Whether loss equalled or exceeded $500 / Held: Applicant inadvertently misrepresented height of horse / Height information encouraged purchase / Misrepresentation absolved Respondent from paying final $500 / Applicant retained bulk of purchase price / Reasonable that neither should owe the other any further sum / Applicant should provide breed material to enable transfer of horse’s certificate / Claim dismissed.

Fencing Act 1978 / Applicants served a fencing notice to Respondents / Applicants seek an order for proposed fence to be built at their own expense / Respondents reject any fence and counterclaim $656 for lawyer's fees incurred / Held: Applicants cannot insist for boundary fence to be built without consent of Respondents as Respondents are also owners / Applicants not liable to pay Respondents' lawyer fees / Claim dismissed / Counterclaim dismissed.

Costs on Review; Vocational Independence; Eligibility for Backdated Weekly Compensation, s 148, s 107, s 100, Accident Compensation Act 2001. Appeal against decision on when backdated weekly compensation should be paid to. Whether appellant is vocationally independent. Decision that appellant was vocationally independent was only reasonable conclusion ACC could have reached based on all evidence considered. Outcome: appeal dismissed. 

Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 / Applicant bought spa pool from Respondent / Spa pool leaking / Applicant wants to return spa pool to Respondent / Applicant claims full refund $12,000 and additional $1,000 for consequential costs relating to leak / Held: spa pool not of acceptable quality and defect not remedied within reasonable time / Respondent ordered to refund $12,000 to Applicant and collect spa pool at Respondent's expense / Consequential costs of $1,000 not granted as no evidence provided / Claim allowed.

[2023] NZEmpC 4 Young v Port of Tauranga Ltd (Costs Judgment of Judge J C Holden, 26 January 2023) COSTS- GUIDELINE SCALE – costs awarded.

Contract / Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act 2003 (CCCF) / Applicant entered into a secured credit agreement with Respondent for the purchase of a car / Applicant defaulted and believes the loan was oppressive (as defined by s118 CCCF) and in breach of s9(c) CCCF / Applicant is a solo mother on the benefit / Applicant claims Respondent failed to do appropriate credit checks / Respondent should have realised Applicant was not in a position to repay such a loan / Respondent counter claims $14,342.40 being the amount owing plus interest (which at the time of filing was not yet charged) / Held: Respondent carried out necessary credit checks / Applicant was unable to prove that the loan was oppressive and the extra charges were unreasonable / Applicant must pay Respondent $14,145.16 (being the account balance presented as evidence) / Claim dismissed / Counterclaim partially granted.

Towing / Applicant’s car was towed from a carparking building / Applicant had purchased a subscription to park in any unreserved bay in the carparking building / Applicant charged $420.00 for towing charges / Applicant claimed signage was confusing which led him to park in the wrong place / Applicant also claimed tow charge was unreasonable / Whether Respondent had the right to tow Applicant’s car / Whether costs were reasonable / Held: signage was unclear and it created confusion about where the Applicant could park / Respondent provided signage to the carparking building / Respondent had the ability to ensure signage was not confusing for carpark users / Respondent had no right to tow the Applicant’s car / Respondent ordered to pay $420.00 / Claim granted.

Penalty / misconduct / licensee guilty (s73(c)(iii)) for recklessly contravening r6.3 by consensually hugging client, together with a peck on the cheek & their cheeks touching, and accidentally brushing of their lips / Real Estate Agents Act 2008, s3, s93, s110 / Professional Rules 2012, r6.3 / HELD / incident was consensual and not sexual / licensee was found to have overstepped professional boundaries / conduct was serious albeit a momentary lapse only / conduct at low-moderate to moderate level / licensee censured / ordered to pay $4,000 financial penalty / 20 per cent costs ($7,109)

Penalty / practitioner admitted three charges of misconduct / altered emails to appear they were sent on earlier date / second charge redacted / misled the Committee / HELD / seriousness of misconduct warrants suspension / conduct strikes at heart of professional obligations due to dishonesty, allowing personal life to impinge on performance and providing misleading information to professional body / emails were altered on six occasions, showing repeated and premeditated deception / mitigating factors include early guilty plea, apology, remorse, regular attendance before psychologist, and voluntary cancellation of practising certificate / principle of deterrence to be at forefront in deciding penalty for charges of this kind / medical evidence shows personal interests outweighs public interest in knowing practitioner’s identity / Tribunal ordered six months’ suspension / practitioner to pay Standards Committee’s and Tribunal’s costs / permanent name suppression granted