Employers with no assets…
The December 2012 decision of the Employment Court (“the Court”) in Hutton v Provencocadmus Ltd (in receivership) should encourage all employees to look at who their employer is, and what assets their employer holds. By way of background to the Hutton decision, two separate groups of companies, the Provenco Group and the Cadmus Group, merged to produce a single... Read More
The Impact of Employees’ Actions Outside of Work on their Right to Continued Employment
The recent Employment Relations Authority (“Authority”) determination of Hallwright v Forsyth Barr Ltd serves as a timely reminder to all employees that what they do (or don’t do) outside of their working hours can have an impact on their right to continued employment. Hallwright, an employee of Forsyth Barr Limited (“FBL”), was involved in a... Read More
Oscar Pistorius – A Tragic Case of Mistaken Identity?
I have no experience or knowledge of South African criminal law. However, I am not going to let that stand in the way of blogging about Oscar Pistorius’ application for bail. A common sense approach to considering Pistorius’ bail application might suggest that he is at least guilty of manslaughter (the unintentional killing of his girlfriend Reeva... Read More
Bridgecorp Directors Insured for Funding Defence of Claims
In its recent decision in Steigrad v BFSL Ltd & Ors CA674/2011 the Court of Appeal threw a life-line to Peter Steigrad and other directors of the collapsed Bridgecorp group of companies. The directors concerned are facing claims by the Bridgecorp companies for alleged breaches of duties owed by the directors to the companies. As the companies are in... Read More
Perjury – A Serious Offence
Perjury, although seemingly an outdated and minor offence, is still taken very seriously by courts to act as a deterrent for undermining the judicial process. In a recent decision of the High Court (R v Kendall) Justice Toogood found three misleading statements set out in an affidavit to warrant a term of three years imprisonment as a starting point. In that case... Read More
Minimum Redundancy Entitlements for all employees by law…?
Last month, (November 2012), a Member’s Bill was introduced into Parliament by Labour’s Sue Moroney which seeks to introduce minimum redundancy entitlements for all employees, the Employment Relations (Statutory Minimum Redundancy Entitlements) Amendment Bill. In addition to providing minimum redundancy entitlements, the Bill also provides a definition of... Read More
Greg King and the Acceptance of Opprobrium
I have posted a previous blog supporting our system of justice. It is not a perfect system. Rather, it is the best system that we have been able to develop during the past 350 years. Justice in New Zealand is primarily delivered via our Courts. The Courts hear both criminal and civil claims. The criminal justice system can often be a world away from regulated... Read More
Councils Exposed to Commercial Buildings Claims
The Supreme Court, in what has become commonly known as the Spencer on Byron case, has allowed an appeal by the owners of the Spencer on Byron hotel, Takapuna, in their leaky building claim against the former North Shore City Council (now part of Auckland Council). In the High Court and Court of Appeal the Council had successfully argued that it should not owe a... Read More
The Cost of Setting up in Competition with your Employer
The recent decision of the Employment Court in the Rooney Earthmoving case should serve as a sharp reminder of the consequences of engaging in trade competition in breach of your obligations as an employee. In short, three employees of Rooney Earthmoving Limited (“REL”) decided to leave their employment and establish a company BMW Contracting Limited (“BMW”)... Read More
No Secrets Allowed for Financially Assisted Plaintiff
Litigation funding has started to appear more regularly as a feature of modern civil litigation, especially in relation to class action (multiple plaintiff) cases. One of Australia’s litigation funders, IMF (Australia) Limited, is publically listed on the ASX. Litigation funding companies are not new to New Zealand but the growth rate of such companies here has... Read More