Employment Court of New Zealand Te Kōti Take Mahi o Aotearoa

[2022] NZEmpC 30 Cousens v Star Nelson Holdings Ltd (Oral Judgment of Judge K G Smith, 24 February 2022) COMPLIANCE ORDER – PENALTY – compliance order of Authority was not complied with – penalty awarded.

[2022] NZEmpC 28 Smiths City (Southern) Ltd (in rec) v Milne (Judgment of Judge K G Smith, 21 February 2022) CONSENT – costs settled by consent.

[2022] NZEmpC 26 Tupe v The Board of Trustees of Te Manawa O Tuhoe Trust (Interlocutory Judgment of Judge Kathryn Beck, 16 February 2022) APPLICATION FOR SECURITY FOR COSTS – claim does not obviously lack merit – no evidence of impecuniosity – no evidence of a pattern of litigious behaviour – application declined.

[2022] NZEmpC 24 Drivesure Ltd v McQuillan (Judgment of Chief Judge Christina Inglis, 15 February 2022) APPLICATION FOR LEAVE TO EXTEND TIME TO FILE A CHALLENGE – delay was caused by representative error and was modest – public interest in challenge – application granted.

[2022] NZEmpC 22 Cross v Air New Zealand Ltd (Judgment of Judge K G Smith, 11 February 2022) NON-PUBLICATION of certain documents – granted by consent.

[2022] NZEmpC 20 Courage v Attorney-General (Interlocutory Judgment (No 3) of Chief Judge Christina Inglis, 11 February 2022) APPLICATION FOR LEAVE TO REQUIRE ANSWER TO INTERROGATORIES – relevance is arguable – requested interrogatories are oppressive with limited time until hearing – application declined.

[2022] NZEmpC 18 Courage v Attorney-General (Interlocutory Judgment (No 2) of Chief Judge Inglis, 10 February 2022) APPLICATION FOR IN-COURT MEDIA COVERAGE – proceedings have public importance and genuine public interest – privacy concerns can be addressed – applicant I bound by rules and protocols to alleviate possibility of unbalanced reporting – application granted.

[2022] NZEmpC 16 Courage v Attorney-General (Interlocutory Judgment of Chief Judge Christina Inglis, 9 February 2022) APPLICATION FOR IN-COURT MEDIA COVERAGE – applicant can attend hearing without making a recording.

[2022] NZEmpC 14 Farrand Orchards Ltd v Tane (Interlocutory Judgment of Judge Kathryn Beck, 8 February 2022) APPLICATION FOR LEAVE TO EXTEND TIME TO FILE STATEMENT OF DEFENCE – minimal delay – lack of prejudice – application granted.

[2022] NZEmpC 12 Cronin-Lampe v The Board of Trustees of Melville High School (Judgment of Judge B A Corkill, 8 February 2022) APPLICATION FOR STAY – Court of Appeal to hear appeal on preliminary point – confined period involved – absence of opposition – application granted.

[2022] NZEmpC 10 Shaw v Bay of Plenty District Health Board (Judgment of Judge K G Smith, 4 February 2022) PERSONAL GRIEVANCE – UNJUSTIFIABLE DISADVANTAGE – employee did not raise grievance of being bullied – UNJUSTIFIABLE DISMISSAL – employee was dismissed for breaching confidential patient records – dismissal was procedurally and substantively justifiable – challenge dismissed.

[2022] NZEmpC 7 A Labour Inspector of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment v JDFoods Ltd (Oral Judgment of Judge B A Corkill, 28 January 2021) APPLICATION TO DISCHARGE FREEZING ORDER – parties to give further evidence – refined freezing order made.

[2022] NZEmpC 5 VMR v Civil Aviation Authority (Judgment of Judge B A Corkill, 24 January 2022) APPLICATION FOR INTERIM REINSTATEMENT – weakly arguable case for unjustifiable dismissal – weakly arguable case for permanent reinstatement – employing unvaccinated workers likely to be in breach of COVID-19 Public Health Response (Vaccinations) Order 2021 – reinstatement would not be appropriate if it would lead to a breach by the employer – balance of convenience weighs against interim reinstatement – application declined - APPLICATION FOR INTERIM NON-PUBLICATION – non-publication granted in other jurisdictions – significant public interest in mandatory vaccinations – application granted.