Pinky's Pizza Ribs on the Run Pty Ltd v Exxonmobil Oil Corp

Pinky's Pizza Ribs on the Run Pty Ltd (Pinky's) and Exxonmobil Oil Corporation (Exxonmobil) were the parties involved in proceedings before the Supreme Court of Victoria. The dispute concerned Pinky's claim for damages arising from alleged misleading and deceptive conduct by Exxonmobil in relation to the sale of a service station business. Pinky's alleged that Exxonmobil made representations about the business's profitability and turnover which were false and misleading, inducing Pinky's to purchase the business.

The central legal issue before the Court was whether Exxonmobil had engaged in conduct that was misleading or deceptive, or likely to mislead or deceive, in contravention of section 52 of the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) (now section 18 of the Australian Consumer Law). This involved determining whether the representations made by Exxonmobil regarding the business's financial performance were in fact false or misleading, and if so, whether Pinky's relied on those representations to its detriment.

Justice Terry Williams found that Exxonmobil had engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct. His Honour concluded that the representations made concerning the turnover and profitability of the service station were not substantiated by the evidence and were likely to mislead a reasonable purchaser. The Court applied the principles of statutory interpretation relevant to consumer protection legislation, focusing on the objective test of whether the conduct was misleading or deceptive. The Court considered the evidence presented by both parties, including financial records and expert testimony, to assess the truthfulness and reasonableness of the representations made by Exxonmobil.

The Court ordered that Exxonmobil pay damages to Pinky's Pizza Ribs on the Run Pty Ltd in an amount to be assessed.