Martens v Indigenous Land Corporation - [2017] FCCA 896

FEDERAL CIRCUIT COURT OF AUSTRALIA

MARTENS v INDIGENOUS LAND CORPORATION & ANOR

[2017] FCCA 896

Catchwords:
INDUSTRIAL LAW – General protections claim involving dismissal – where applicant dismissed following disciplinary process – whether process a sham designed to avoid redundancy provisions – process not a sham – application dismissed.

Legislation:

Fair Work Act 2009, ss.12, 61(2), 119, 340(2), 341, 342, 343, 352, 361(1), 389(2), 542, 543, 550(1)

Cases cited:
Barnett v Territory Insurance Office (2011) 196 FCR 116

Daw v Schneider Electric (Australia) Pty Ltd (2013) 280 FLR 361
Rahman v Commonwealth of Australia as represented by the Australian Taxation Office [2014] FCCA 6
Salby v Macquarie University & Anor [2016] FCCA 3

Applicant:

ASHLEY MARTENS

First Respondent:

INDIGENOUS LAND CORPORATION

Second Respondent:

MICHAEL DILLON

File Number:

BRG 1000 of 2015

Judgment of:

Judge Jarrett

Hearing date:

30 August 2016

Date of Last Submission:

30 August 2016

Delivered at:

Brisbane

Delivered on:

4 May 2017

REPRESENTATION

Solicitor for the Applicant:

Mr Pratt

Solicitors for the Applicant:

Franklin Athanasellis Cullen

Counsel for the Respondents:

Mr Douglas

Solicitors for the Respondents:

Australian Government Solicitor

ORDERS

The application filed on 23 October, 2015 is dismissed.

FEDERAL CIRCUIT COURT
OF AUSTRALIA
AT BRISBANE

BRG 1000 of 2015

ASHLEY MARTENS

Applicant

And

INDIGENOUS LAND CORPORATION

First Respondent

MICHAEL DILLON

Second Respondent

REASONS FOR JUDGMENT

Between February, 1998 and July, 2015 Mr Martens was employed by the first respondent as Director of Capital Works. His employment was terminated on 24 July, 2015. These proceedings arise from the events leading to and the termination of Mr Martens employment.
Mr Martens alleges that the first respondent took adverse action against him in breach of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth). He claims compensation and the imposition of pecuniary penalties upon the first respondent for that adverse action. He alleges that the second respondent, Mr Dillon, was involved in the first respondent’s contraventions of the Act for the purposes of s.550(1) of that Act and that he too, is liable to the imposition of pecuniary penalties for the first respondent’s contraventions.
Mr Marten’s case is that between 19 August, 2014 and early 2015 Mr Dillon began a review of the Capital Works Directorate of the first respondent which Mr Martens headed as the Director. He alleges that Mr Dillon decided to effectively abolish the Directorate and make Mr Martens’ position redundant. However, if he was made redundant, Mr Martens would have been entitled to about $107,171.74 (gross) in redundancy pay plus accrued leave entitlements. Mr Martens contends that to avoid paying him his redundancy entitlements:
a)in early April, 2015 Mr Dillon, without a valid reason, instructed employees of the First Respondent to search through Mr Martens’ email history to find any material that might have constituted grounds for a conduct-based dismissal;
b)Mr Dillon initiated a disciplinary process against Mr Martens and suspended him from his employment while that was undertaken;
c)Mr Dillon required him to submit to a medical examination as a condition of granting an extension of…

Grounds of appeal

[14] The appellant contends that the primary judge erred in finding that the respondent had discharged the onus of establishing the matters required under the relevant provision.

[15] It was submitted that his Honour failed to give adequate weight to the evidence of the second witness, and that the findings of fact were not reasonably open on the material before the Court.

[16] The respondent, for its part, submits that no error is disclosed, and that the conclusions reached were well within the range of outcomes available to the primary judge.

Consideration

[17] It is convenient to deal first with the question of construction, as the resolution of that issue informs the remaining grounds advanced by the appellant.

[18] For the reasons that follow, we are of the view that the appeal should be allowed in part and the matter remitted for further determination.

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Details

Case: [2017] FCCA 896
Decision Date: 4 May 2017

CaseChat Overview and Summary

In the Federal Court of Australia, Justice Jarrett considered a dispute between Mr. Martens and the Indigenous Land Corporation (ILC). Mr. Martens sought to recover damages from the ILC for alleged breaches of contract and misleading or deceptive conduct. The core of the dispute concerned the ILC's alleged failure to fulfil its obligations under an agreement relating to the development of a property.

The primary legal issues before the Court were whether the ILC had breached its contractual obligations to Mr. Martens and whether the ILC had engaged in conduct that was misleading or deceptive in contravention of the Australian Consumer Law. Mr. Martens also sought to establish that the ILC's actions had caused him loss and damage.

Justice Jarrett's reasoning focused on the interpretation of the agreement between the parties and the evidence presented regarding the ILC's conduct. The Court examined the terms of the contract to determine the precise nature of the ILC's obligations and whether those obligations had been met. In relation to the misleading or deceptive conduct claim, the Court considered whether the ILC's representations or omissions were likely to mislead or deceive a reasonable person in the circumstances. The Court applied principles of contract law and consumer protection law to assess the evidence and determine liability.

The Court found that the ILC had not breached its contractual obligations and had not engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct. Accordingly, Mr. Martens' claim for damages was dismissed.

Orders