Employment Court of New Zealand Te Kōti Take Mahi o Aotearoa

[2016] NZEmpC 32 Bhikoo v Stephen Marr Hair Design Newmarket Limited (Judgment of Judge Perkins of 6 April 2016) UNJUSTIFIED DISMISSAL – whether two of grounds for dismissal amounted to serious misconduct – test for serious misconduct considered – plaintiff’s refusal to participate in disciplinary process a factor – difficulties with claim for penalty – consideration of ss 63A and 64.

[2016] NZEmpC 50 NZ Nurses Org & Anor v Waikato District Health Board (Judgment of Judge Ford, 4 May 2016) RETIRMENT GRATUITY – CONTRACT INTERPRETATION – challenge and cross-challenge – whether defendant qualified for redundancy gratuity – relationship between collective agreement and contract considered – may be test case with regard to costs – intervener to meet own costs.

Industrial Equipment Distributors Lifting Centre Ltd v Spark NZ Ltd - judgment No 2 of Judge B A Corkill. (Judgment No 2 of Judge Corkill, 4 May 2016) DISCLOSURE – application for disclosure by third parties – to be read in conjunction with judgment [2016] NZEmpC 45 – orders made for disclosure by first respondent.

[2016] NZEmpC 45 Industrial Equipment Distributors Lifting Centre Ltd v Spark NZ Ltd & Vodafone(Judgment of Judge Corkill, 2 May 2016) DISCLOSURE – application for disclosure by third parties - evidence of improper remote access to plaintiff’s web-based system – need to confirm identity attached to IP addresses -second respondent properly served –– consideration of conditions necessary before orders for third party discovery made – application allowed.

[2016] NZEmpC 47 Gather Supermarket Chain Ltd t/a Italia Square v Faulls (Judgment of Chief Judge Colgan, 2 May 2016) DISMISSED FOR WANT OF PROSECUTION – plaintiff’s challenge struck out - now open to defendant to enforce her determination in the Authority.

[2016] NZEmpC 43 Pretorius v Marra Construction (2004) Ltd (Judgment of Judge Corkill, 19 April 2016) APPLICATION FOR REMOVAL – under s 178, application to remove part of a matter before Authority – parts of claims already subject of challenge at Court – unjustified dismissal and other remuneration grievances still before Authority – application declined.

[2016] NZEmpC 39 Fox v Hereworth School Trust Board Costs  (Costs judgment of Chief Judge GL Colgan of 15 April 2016) COSTS – INSTALMENTS – three separate costs periods identified – arguments for and against payments by instalment considered – Court’s equity and good conscience jurisdiction applied – plaintiff’s lack of success on some interlocutory matter and rejection of Calderbank taken into account – total of $96, 482.03 awarded, to be paid by instalment.

[2016] NZEmpC 40 Burns V Randwick Meat Co Limited consent judgment (Judgment of Judge Corkill of 15 April 2016 ) CONSENT – terms of settlement subject to confidential agreement – order of non-publication

[2016] NZEmpC 37 Zespri International Limited v Yu Interlocutory No 3 (Interlocutory Judgment number 3 of Chief Judge Colgan of 15 April 2016) KEY SEARCH TERMS – two categories of documents, personal and privileged – key words specified for purpose of expert search – parties to confer on request for combination search

The application for leave to appeal against the judgment of the Employment Court in New Zealand Meat Workers & Related Trades Union Inc v AFFCO New Zealand Ltd is granted, 13 April 2016

[2016] NZEmpC 36 Western Bay of Plenty DHB v McInnes - judgment of Judge C Inglis (Judgment of Judge Inglis of 13 April 2016) INTERIM REINSTATEMENT – principles applying to interim reinstatement – arguable case found – balance of convenience and overall justice favoured plaintiff – interim reinstatement declined.

[2016] NZEmpC 33 Lewis v JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A (Costs judgment of Chief Judge GL Colgan of 7 April 2016) COSTS ON APPLICATION FOR STRIKE-OUT –settlement offers did not address reputational issues– not a test case or novel point of law – ability to pay has never been a decisive factor – no factors justifying uplift –reasonable costs in this case ($50,000) were less than actual costs – comparison of High Court cost scale, Employment Court pilot scale and two-thirds assessment –similar result – costs of $36,667 plus disbursements awarded to defendant

[2016] NZEmpC 24 Myatt (Labour Inspector)  v Pacific Appliances Limited -(Judgment of Judge M E Perkins, 21 March 2016) FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH ORDERS – Application by Labour Inspector pursuant to s140(6) of Employment Relations Act 2000 – seeks fine for failure to comply with orders from Employment Relations Authority – failure to remediate breaches of minimum standards of employment pursuant to issued Improvement Notice – no objection to the Notice – by evidence and documents produced Court satisfied that defendant failed to pay penalty and filing fees order by the Authority – factors to be taken into account when determining sanctions discussed – disregard and obstructive behaviour shown by defendant – high level of culpability – need to denounce behaviour – need for deterrence – Held, defendant fined $15,000 – defendant to make contribution to costs of Ministry of Justice as well as costs of the plaintiff.