Rana v Hyatt Regency Hotel Ltd - [2007] SASC 7

SUPREME COURT OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA
(Magistrates Appeals: Civil)
RANA v HYATT REGENCY HOTEL LTD
[2007] SASC 7
Judgment of The Honourable Justice David
19 January 2007
MAGISTRATES - APPEALS FROM AND CONTROL OVER MAGISTRATES - SOUTH AUSTRALIA - APPEAL TO SUPREME COURT
Appeal against the decision of a magistrate to summarily dismiss the appellant’s claims pursuant to s 52 of the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) and the Misrepresentation Act 1972 (SA) – the claims arose from the alleged fact that the appellant was invited to attend the respondent’s hotel, but was subsequently refused entry – magistrate found that the pleadings did not disclose a proper cause of action and dismissed the claims, the appellant having refused to amend the pleadings – whether there was actual or apparent bias on the part of the magistrate – whether the magistrate erred in summarily dismissing the appellant’s claim – held, appeal allowed – a fair-minded observer would not have suspected that the magistrate pre-judged the claim – appellant should have raised bias concerns before the magistrate – s 7 of the Misrepresentation Act 1972 only provides remedies for misrepresentation where a contract was actually formed – as the appellant did not plead the existence of a contract, this claim fails – s 51A of the Trade Practices Act 1974 shifts the onus in s 52 claims involving “representations with respect to a future matter” such that a representation is deemed misleading unless the corporation adduces evidence that it had reasonable grounds for making the representation – given that the appellant was self-represented, the magistrate should have applied s 51A notwithstanding that the appellant did not refer to the provision – applying s 51A, the appellant’s claim pursuant to s 52 had a possibility of success, and should not have been summarily dismissed.
Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) s 51A, s 52; Misrepresentation Act 1972 (SA) s 4, s 6, s 7, s 8, referred to.
Battiste v Mulvaney (Unreported S6419, Supreme Court of South Australia, Doyle CJ, 7 November 1997); Bill Acceptance Corporation v GWA (1983) 50 ALR 242; Concrete Constructions (NSW) Pty Ltd v Nelson (1990) 169 CLR 594; Corporate Affairs Commission v Solomon (Unreported, New South Wales Court of Appeal, Mahoney AP, 1 November 1989); Cummins v Lewis (1993) 113 ALR 285; Davis v The Commonwealth (1986) 61 ALJR 32; Empire Shipping v Shin Kobe Maru (1991) 32 FCR 78; General Steel Industries Inc v Commissioner for Railways (NSW) (1964) 112 CLR 125; Global Sportsman v Mirror Newspapers (1984) 55 ALR 25; Johnson Tiles v Esso Australia (2000) 104 FCR 564; Morton v Vouris (1996) 21 ACSR 497; Mr Bankrupt Secondhand Goods v Richards (2000) 209 LSJS 278; Rajski v Scitec (Unreported, New South Wales Court of Appeal, 16 June 1986); Ting v Blanche (1993) 118 ALR 543; Webb v The Queen (1994) 181 CLR 41; Wentworth v Rogers (No 5) (1986) 6 NSWLR 534; Western Australia v…

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: [2007] SASC 7
Decision Date: 19 January 2007

CaseChat Overview and Summary

In Rana v Hyatt Regency Hotel Ltd, the appellant, Ranjit Rana, appealed a decision of the Magistrates Court of South Australia, which dismissed his claims against the respondent, Hyatt Regency Hotel Ltd. The appellant alleged that he was misled and deceived by the respondent, which had invited him to a function at its Waves nightclub, but subsequently refused him entry. The appellant claimed damages under section 52 of the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) and the Misrepresentation Act 1972 (SA). The magistrate dismissed the claims, finding that the pleadings did not disclose a proper cause of action, and the appellant refused to amend them.

The legal issues the court considered were whether the magistrate was biased, whether the magistrate erred in summarily dismissing the appellant’s claims, and whether the magistrate should have applied section 51A of the Trade Practices Act. The court found that the magistrate was not biased and that the appellant should have raised bias concerns before the magistrate. The court held that the magistrate did not err in dismissing the misrepresentation claim under the Misrepresentation Act because it only provides remedies where a contract was formed, and the appellant did not plead the existence of a contract. However, the court held that the magistrate erred in summarily dismissing the claim under section 52 of the Trade Practices Act. The court found that the magistrate should have applied section 51A of the Trade Practices Act, which shifts the onus to the corporation to prove that it had reasonable grounds for making the representation. The court held that the appellant’s claim had a possibility of success, and the magistrate should not have summarily dismissed it.

The Supreme Court of South Australia allowed the appeal and remitted the matter to the Magistrates Court for further consideration. The court found that the magistrate did not err in dismissing the misrepresentation claim under the Misrepresentation Act, but the magistrate erred in summarily dismissing the claim under section 52 of the Trade Practices Act. The court held that the magistrate should have applied section 51A of the Trade Practices Act, which shifts the onus to the corporation to prove that it had reasonable grounds for making the representation. The court found that the appellant’s claim had a possibility of success, and the magistrate should not have summarily dismissed it. The court allowed the appeal and remitted the matter to the Magistrates Court for further consideration.

Orders

Orders of the court

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Background

Background to the litigation

Leave was not sought in this case, and both parties put to me in argument that leave was not required. Subsequent to hearing the appeal, the respondent provided supplementary submissions for consideration. These submissions reversed the respondent’s position on the appellant’s need to seek leave to appeal. I have determined not to consider the submissions because of the potential prejudice to the appellant at this late stage in the proceedings. Consistent with the original position of the parties, I deal with the appeal upon its merits.Background Facts The appellant claims that at 7.57 am on 21 April 2006 the respondent’s security manager left the him a message inviting him to attend a function organised by the dating service RSVP. The function was to be held later that evening at a venue operated by the respondent, the Waves nightclub. The appellant claims that he attended the nightclub at the scheduled time, but was stopped at the entrance by a security guard. He claims that the security guard told him that he was a “trouble maker” and that he “had been banned for life for attempting to murder a taxi driver … and trying to rape white girls”. The appellant left the venue. The appellant claims that the General Manager of the respondent sent him an email on 3 May 2006 confirming that he was not welcome at the respondent’s hotel.[1][1] Exhibit to Affidavit of Ranjit Rana, 17 July 2006. The appellant claims that he regularly attended the respondent’s nightclub prior to the events of 21 April 2006. He refers to an incident at the respondent’s hotel on 31 March 2006 which he says relates to the present dispute.[2] He makes a series of allegations against people including a taxi driver, two security officers apparently employed by the respondent, an ex-girlfriend and a former neighbour. I will not repeat these allegations. I do not believe that these matters advance the appellant’s claims, and I disregard them for this appeal.[2] Affidavit of Ranjit Rana, 17 July 2006. The appellant alleges that the security officer made other allegations to the South Australia Police and to the agency RSVP. Again, I do not believe that this fact supports either of the appellant’s claims, and I disregard it.The Applications The appellant, who is self-represented, claimed the sum of $16,000 in damages against the respondent for alleged misleading and deceptive conduct in breach of s 52 of the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) (“the Trade Practices Act”) and misrepresentation in breach of the Misrepresentation Act 1972 (SA) (“the Misrepresentation Act”). That claim is detailed in the appellant’s Particulars of Claim filed in the Magistrates Court of South Australia on 26 April 2006. I set out the pertinent parts:1.The defendant (Hyatt Regency Hotel) is and at all material times is/was a corporation within the meaning of the Trades Practices Act 1974 (Cth) (“the Act”), being incorporated under Corporations Law.2.On 21st April 2006, the defendant, in trade or commerce, engaged in the following conduct (“the defendant’s conduct”) in contravention of s 52 of the Act:(i) The defendant’s security manager Phillip on or about 7:57 AM had left a message as a delegate of the Hotel Manager confirming that the plaintiff could attend the organised function for dating in the Waves night club of the defendant.(ii) Phillip also indicated that he could find no misconduct of the plaintiff inside or outside the precinct of the hotel located at North Terrace, Adelaide before 21/4/2006.(iii) Phillip also confirmed that the Restaurant Manager of the Waves had approved the presence of the plaintiff for the function.(iv) The defendant provides hospitality and entertainment services to public and organizer like RSVP in terms of trade and commerce.3.The defendant’s conduct was misleading and deceptive in that (vicariously) as of point 2, the plaintiff was okayed to attend the function on 21/4/206 [sic] at about 7:30 PM. However, when the plaintiff was at the gates of Waves, another security officer approached the plaintiff and told him that he was a trouble maker and has been banned for life for attempting to murder a taxi driver … and trying to rape white girls.

Evidence

Evidence Before The Court

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Decision

Reasons for decision

The allegation in para 4 might somehow support the appellant’s other claims, however, the magistrate is quite right that he did not have jurisdiction to consider the allegation in its own right.Conclusion As stated, the power of summary dismissal should be exercised with caution, and only when it is clear that the case as pleaded must fail. The magistrate was confronted with pleadings that were inadequate. The appellant is to be under no illusion in this regard. The pleadings were confused and frequently referred to irrelevant matters. They included a claim with respect to the Misrepresentation Act that was hopeless. The magistrate gave the appellant repeated opportunities to address these issues, but the appellant refused. Because of the effect of s 51A of the Trade Practices Act, I find that the claim pursuant to s 52 cannot at this stage be categorised as one that could not possibly succeed. I appreciate the difficulty of the magistrate’s position in that there was no reference in argument to s 51A. Nonetheless I find that he should not have summarily dismissed that aspect of the claim. I order that the matter be remitted to the Magistrates Court.

Ratio Decidendi

Legal Principle Established

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