Stavrianos v Coles Myer Limited

In *Stavrianos v Coles Myer Limited* [1995] NSWCA 451, the New South Wales Court of Appeal considered an appeal from a judgment of the Supreme Court of New South Wales. The dispute concerned an alleged breach of contract and negligence arising from the plaintiff's employment with the defendant.

The central legal issues before the Court of Appeal were whether the trial judge had erred in finding that the defendant had breached its contractual obligations to the plaintiff and whether the trial judge had correctly assessed the damages awarded for that breach. The court also had to consider whether the plaintiff had established a claim in negligence against the defendant.

The Court of Appeal analysed the terms of the employment contract and the conduct of the parties in relation to the alleged breach. It applied principles of contract law to determine whether the defendant's actions constituted a repudiation of the contract or a breach of an implied term. Regarding the negligence claim, the court considered the duty of care owed by an employer to an employee and whether that duty had been breached. The court ultimately found that the trial judge had made no error in law and that the evidence supported the findings of fact made at trial.

The appeal was dismissed, and the orders of the Supreme Court were affirmed.