North West Pilots Pty Ltd as trustee for the Port Hedland Pilots Unit Trust trading as Port Hedland Pilots v Daniel

In the Supreme Court of Western Australia, North West Pilots Pty Ltd as trustee for the Port Hedland Pilots Unit Trust (PHP) appealed against decisions of the primary judge. The primary judge had dismissed PHP's application for an interlocutory injunction against Captain Heath Daniel and ordered the Pilbara Ports Authority (PPA) be joined as a defendant in the proceeding. PHP claimed that Captain Daniel, a former employee, had breached contractual, fiduciary, and statutory duties owed to PHP by taking employment with PPA. PHP argued that the primary judge erred in joining PPA as a defendant and in ordering PHP to pay PPA's costs of the interlocutory injunction application. The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeals and refused leave to appeal. In relation to the joinder decision, the Court held that the joinder did not adversely affect PHP's substantive rights. The Court held that the appeal had the effect of putting the primary proceedings on hold for several months. In relation to the costs decision, the Court held that the primary judge was not required to find that PPA's intervention was necessary to protect its rights, but only that its intervention was necessary to protect its interest in operating the Port. The Court held that there was no error in the primary judge's exercise of the discretion to order that PHP pay PPA's costs of the interlocutory application.