Employment Court of New Zealand Te Kōti Take Mahi o Aotearoa

[2025] NZEmpC 93 CG v Calendar Girls NZ Ltd (Judgment of Judge Helen Doyle 13 May 2025) APPLICATION FOR INTERIM NON-PUBLICATION - safety and professional reputation concerns if names are publicised - application is not futile - application granted - APPLICATION FOR AUDIO-VISUAL LINK - concerns can be mitigated via strict adherence to Court guidelines - application granted - CHALLENGE TO OBJECTION TO DISCLOSURE - relevance and proportionality - some documents to be disclosed.

[2025] NZEmpC 91 LDJ v EZC (Interlocutory Judgment (No 2) of Judge Kathryn Beck, 9 May 2025) LITIGATION GUARDIAN – CAPACITY – SUFFICIENT INSTRUCTIONS – counsel raised concerns about whether plaintiff has capacity to give sufficient instructions – medical and other evidence indicates that plaintiff is able to understand issues – medical and other evidence establishes that plaintiff is unable to properly exercise sound judgement and reasoning in relation to issues – plaintiff not able to give sufficient instructions – plaintiff is incapacitated – litigation guardian appointed – no conditions placed on appointment

[2025] NZEmpC 89 Labour Inspector v Dao (Judgment (No 4) of Judge Beck, 6 May 2025) FREEZING ORDERS – ANCILLARY ORDERS – VARIATION – CONTINUATION – unclear whether assets held by trust are realisable – further ancillary orders made to assess value of accounts of respondents – not necessary to order disclosure of bank statements – freezing orders continued

[2025] NZEmpC 87 ELG v KLE (Judgment No7 of KG Smith 2 May 2025) NON-PUBLICATION – non-publication orders not necessary to protect sensitive commercial information – non-publication orders not necessary to protect employment prospects of respondent – non-publication orders necessary to protect confidentiality of settlement agreement signed by parties – non-publication orders made over parties and witnesses – first search order judgment redacted in part

[2025] NZEmpC 84 Port of Tauranga v Young (Judgment of Judge Holden 30 April 2025) COSTS – guideline costs awarded – reduced contribution for second representative

[2025] NZEmpC 82 A Labour Inspector of MBIE v Dao (Judgment (No 2) of Judge Beck, 17 April 2025) FREEZING ORDERS – VARIATION – application to vary freezing orders – some business bank accounts unfrozen – conditions placed on the unfreezing of some business bank acounts – family trust account not unfrozen – mortgage repayments can be facilitated without removing trust account from freezing order – new bank account to be set up for the purposes of receiving and paying ordinary living expenses and legal expenses

[2025] NZEmpC 80  AJY v Chief Executive of the Department of Corrections (Judgment (No 2) of Judge Beck, 15 April 2025) CLARIFICATION OF REMEDIES – LOSS OF BENEFIT – claim by employee that they were entitled to retirement leave – employee could have requested retirement leave – employee could have been required to retire on medical grounds – insufficient evidence to find that employee might reasonably have been expected to obtain retirement leave but for unjustified dismissal

[2025] NZEmpC 78 Wilson Parking New Zealand Ltd v Turner & Anor (Judgment (No 2) of Chief Judge Inglis, 15 April 2025) APPLICATION TO AMEND METHODOLOGY OF SEARCH ORDERS – granted by consent

[2025] NZEmpC 76 Vegepod NZ Ltd v Lowe (Judgment of Chief Judge Inglis, 14 April 2025)APPLICATION FOR INTERIM REINSTATEMENT - dismissal arguably unjustifiable procedurally and substantively - relationship difficulties can be managed - insufficient evidence of misconduct and it is strongly refuted - balance of convenience favours reinstatement - reinstatement is sought for unusual reasons, but they do not tell against the appropriateness of the order - application granted

[2025] NZEmpC 74 Locke v Rishworth Aviation Asia Pacific Limited (Interlocutory judgment (No 2) of Judge Beck, 10 April 2025) APPEARANCE UNDER PROTEST – APPLICATION TO SET ASIDE APPEARANCE – JURISDICTION – FORUM NON CONVENIENS – plaintiff has applied to join foreign airline – foreign airline served in New Zealand – foreign airline appeared under protest to jurisdiction – application to set aside appearance under protest – Court has jurisdiction to hear application as foreign airline served in New Zealand – proper process to challenge forum is to apply for a stay or strike out – appearance under protest set aside

[2025] NZEmpC 69  Bread of Life Christian Church in Auckland v Chen (Judgment of Judge Beck, 4 April 2025) STATUS OF WORKER – MINISTER OF RELIGION – IDENTITY OF EMPLOYER – LOST REMUNERATION – REINSTATEMENT – minister of religion became senior pastor of church – trust board of church split and dismissed minister – Authority ordered reinstatement – trust board dismissed minister again for redundancy – dispute over control of trust board being resolved in High Court – starting point to consider parties’ mutual rights and obligations – religious organisations differ from each other – there is no presumption against minister of religion intending to be legally bound – the Court is reluctant to resolve doctrinal disputes – the spiritual nature of a role is not determinative but is relevant – parties intended to be legally bound – parties’ relationship transcended but did not exclude legal relationship – parties’ intended for relationship to be employment relationship – no relevant industry p…

[2025] NZEmpC 70 [2025] NZEmpC 70 Carrington Resort Jade LP v Maheno (Costs judgment of Judge Kathryn Beck, 4 April 2025) COSTS – INCREASED COSTS – increased scale costs awarded following matter being struck out

[2025] NZEmpC 67 Singh v Chand (judgment of Judge Holden 3 April 2025) URGENCY – not required by nature of proceedings – application dismissed