Employment Court of New Zealand Te Kōti Take Mahi o Aotearoa

[2022] NZEmpC 168 Pilgrim v Attorney-General (Interlocutory Judgment (No 17) of Chief Judge Christina Inglis, 12 September 2022) APPOINTMENT OF COURT EXPERT – Employment Court has jurisdiction to appoint court expert at any time – assistance of court expert would outweigh additional cost and delay – court expert to be appointed.

[2022] NZEmpC 165 Halse v Employment Relations Authority (Interlocutory Judgment of Judge B A Corkill, 7 September 2022) APPLICATION FOR STRIKE OUT OF JUDICIAL REVIEW PROCEEDINGS – judicial review cause of action is not clearly untenable – judicial review is not an abuse of process – application declined.

[2022] NZEmpC 163 Matajod v Crazy Horse Ltd (Interlocutory Judgment (No 2) of Chief Judge Christina Inglis, 7 September 2022) APPLICATION TO EXTEND TIME TO FILE STATEMENT OF DEFENCE - APPLICATION TO EXTEND TIME TO FILE CROSS CHALLENGE - company’s challenges to not adequately explain the length of the delay – statement of defence should be allowed to be filed in interests of justice – leave not granted to file cross challenge.

[2022] NZEmpC 161 Tranzurban Hutt Valley Ltd v New Zealand Tramways & Public Passenger Transport Employees Union Wellington Inc (Costs Judgment of Judge B A Corkill, 31 August 2022) COSTS – GUIDELINE SCALE – costs awarded.

[2022] NZEmpC 159 BAC v TRS (Interlocutory Judgment of Judge J C Holden, 30 August 2022) APPLICATION FOR NON-PUBLICATION ORDERS – no grounds for non-publication order – application declined – APPLICATION FOR STAY – no purpose to stay application in the circumstances – application declined.

[2022] NZEmpC 157 Gun City Ltd v Norris (Consent Judgment of Judge Kathryn Beck, 26 August 2022) CONSENT.

[2022] NZEmpC 155 Pilgrim v Attorney-General (Interlocutory Judgment (No 13) of Chief Judge Christina Inglis, 26 August 2022) APPLICATION FOR IN-COURT MEDIA COVERAGE – application not opposed – application granted subject to standard conditions.

[2022] NZEmpC 153 Pilgrim v Attorney-General (Interlocutory Judgment (No 11) of Judge B A Corkill, 24 August 2022) REVOCATION OF INTERIM NON-PUBLICATION ORDER – consent.

[2022] NZEmpC 151 Kang v Saena Company Ltd (Judgment of Judge B A Corkill, 23 August 2022) PERSONAL GRIEVANCE – UNJUSTIFIABLE DISMISSAL – employees reasonably understood that they were dismissed – employee should have been provided with individual employment agreement – dismissal was unjustifiable - employee was not disadvantaged by lack of individual employment agreement – remedies awarded for unjustifiable dismissal.

[2022] NZEmpC 149 Halse v Employment Relations Authority (Judgment of Judge Kathryn Beck, 18 August 2022) APPLICATION TO STRIKE OUT JUDICIAL REVIEW – premature at this stage to say directions are not judicially reviewable – application is an abuse of process - judicial review of removal determination has no reasonably arguable cause of action – judicial review would be vexatious if not struck out for other grounds - application granted.

[2022] NZEmpC 147 Pilgrim v Attorney-General (Interlocutory Judgment (No 8) of Chief Judge Christina Inglis, 18 August 2022) APPLICATION FOR IN-COURT MEDIA COVERAGE - application not opposed - matter is of significant public interest - application granted.

[2022] NZEmpC 145 Pilgrim v Attorney-General (Interlocutory Judgment (No 6) of Judge B A Corkill, 18 August 2022) APPLICATION TO EXCLUDE EVIDENCE - relevance - scandalous - prejudicial - hearsay - opinion - whether evidence might undermine criminal proceedings and fair trial rights - relevance of evidence best determined after all evidence has been heard - scandalous nature of evidence is insufficient by itself to justify exclusion - application partially granted as per schedule.

[2022] NZEmpC 143 Lawton v Steel Pencil Holdings Ltd (in liq) (Costs Judgment of Judge J C Holden, 15 August 2022) COSTS – GUIDELINE SCALE – uplift awarded because of rejected Calderbank offer.