Employment Court of New Zealand Te Kōti Take Mahi o Aotearoa

[2020] NZEmpC 60 Noble v Ballooning Canterbury.com Ltd (Interlocutory Judgment of Judge B A Corkill, 7 May 2020) APPLICATION FOR DECLARATION OF WITHDRAWAL – client will not respond to counsel communications – client unable to be reached – application for substituted service – counsel did not attempt all options to reach client – application for joinder of third parties for costs – whether counsel should be liable for costs – failure to record client’s address was imprudent but not a very serious breach of rules of procedure – joinder not warranted.

[2020] NZEmpC 59 Johnson v Chief of the NZ Defence Force (Costs Judgment of Judge B A Corkill, 6 May 2020) COSTS – GUIDELINE SCALE – orthodox approach applied - uplift for lack of GST registration.

[2020] NZEmpC 57 A Labour Inspector of Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment v NewZealand Fusion International Ltd (Costs Judgment of Chief Judge C Inglis, 4 May 2020) COSTS – GUIDELINE SCALE.

[2020] NZEmpC 56 A Labour Inspector of Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment v Jeet Holdings Ltd (Interlocutory Judgment of Judge M E Perkins, 30 April 2020) FREEZING ORDER – freezing order discharged for four defendants– hearing adjourned because of COVID-19.

[2020] NZEmpC 53 Adventure Playground Rotorua Ltd v Isaac (Interlocutory Judgment (No 2) of Judge J C Holden, 28 April 2020) APPLICATION FOR STAY OF PROCEEDINGS – company not in financial position to pay Authority award – employee would be injuriously affected by a stay – application declined - APPLICATION FOR SECURITY FOR COSTS – company would not be in a position to pay an award of costs if its challenge does not succeed – security for costs ordered.

[2020] NZEmpC 51 O’Boyle v McCue (Interlocutory Judgment of Judge B A Corkill, 28 April 2020) DISCLOSURE – MEDICAL CONFIDENTIALITY – whether employee’s medical records should be disclosed – breach of medical confidentiality – evidence is not sufficiently relevant to determining the issues to outweigh the public interest in keeping medical records confidential – objection to disclosure upheld – APPLICATION TO AMEND STATEMENT OF CLAIM – amendment unnecessary – application dismissed.

[2020] NZEmpC 49 Maritime Union of New Zealand Inc v ISO Ltd (Interlocutory Judgment of Judge K G Smith, 22 April 2020) APPLICATION TO STRIKE OUT A PLAINTIFF – whether Union has standing when there is no collective agreement – Union is not “affected” under s 137(4)(a) and therefore does not have standing – union struck out - APPLICATION TO JOIN A PLAINTIFF – whether other employee can be joined as plaintiff – contracts were materially the same – plaintiff joined under s 221.

[2020] NZEmpC 47 Sawyer v The Vice-Chancellor of Victoria University of Wellington (Costs Judgments of Judge K G Smith, 21 April 2020) COSTS – GUIDELINE SCALE – change in daily rate for part of proceedings.

[2020] NZEmpC 45 Williams v Rural Livestock Ltd (Stay Judgment of Judge K G Smith, 16 April 2020) APPLICATION FOR STAY – plaintiff has pending criminal  charges – delay caused by COVID-19 – stay granted.

[2020] NZEmpC 44 Hong v Chevron Traffic Services Ltd (Judgment of Judge M E Perkins, 15 April 2020) UNJUSTIFIABLE DISMISSAL – SERIOUS MISCONDUCT – employer’s investigation and conclusion were reasonable – dismissal was justifiable – PENALTIES – company was in breach of holiday pay entitlements for casual workers – breach was accidental and does not merit a penalty.

[2020] NZEmpC 42 Alkazaz v Enterprise IT Ltd (Interlocutory Judgment of Chief Judge C Inglis, 14 April 2020) APPLICATION FOR SECURITY FOR COSTS – plaintiff filed a challenge to Authority’s decision not to reopen its investigation – plaintiff does not currently reside in New Zealand – merits of the challenge are weak – plaintiff’s past conduct causes concern about validity of challenge – security for costs ordered.

[2020] NZEmpC 39 Metropolitan Glass & Glazing Ltd v Labour Inspector (Judgment of the full Court, 14 April 2020) ANNUAL HOLIDAYS – INCENTIVE PAYMENTS – whether the company’s short term incentive scheme should be counted under gross earnings – scheme was described as discretionary and was argued to be separate to employment agreements – scheme was actually incorporated into the agreement and had contractual force –description of scheme as discretionary is not relevant – CLOSEDOWN PERIOD – employee’s entitlements when not entitled to annual leave during a closedown period – statute allows only one approach – company was not following that approach.

[2020] NZEmpC 37 Kang v Lee (Reasons Judgment of Judge K G Smith, 27 March 2020) FREEZING ORDER – ANCILLARY ORDER – orders previously granted – director of employer company alleged to be liable for unpaid wages and holiday pay – director allegedly needed to travel to South Korea – test for granting freezing order considered.