Ittyerah v Coles Supermarkets (Australia) Pty Ltd (No 2)

The matter before the court was an application by Mr Ittyerah seeking to appeal the decision of the Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission, which had dismissed his appeal against the decision of a Deputy President of the Fair Work Commission who had refused his application for an extension of time to file an unfair dismissal application. The primary issue for the court was whether the Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission made a jurisdictional error or a constructive failure to exercise its jurisdiction in dismissing Mr Ittyerah’s appeal. The Full Bench had concluded that the grounds of appeal were not sufficiently arguable and that there was no substantial injustice that may result if permission to appeal was refused.

The court considered the submissions made by Mr Ittyerah regarding the alleged errors made by the Deputy President and the Full Bench. The court found that the Deputy President had properly considered the arguments put by the parties and that none of the factors relied upon by Mr Ittyerah exposed anything other than the Deputy President making various findings considered to be warranted by the facts presented and by the application of accepted legal principles to those facts. The court also found that the Full Bench had properly considered the grounds of appeal and that there was no basis to contend that there had been a constructive failure to exercise jurisdiction.

The court dismissed the application and noted that entry of orders was dealt with in Rule 39.32 of the Federal Court Rules 2011.