Tarin v Georgiou Group Pty Ltd

The applicant, Tarin, alleged that the respondent, Georgiou Group Pty Ltd, contravened the general protections provisions of the *Fair Work Act 2009* (Cth) in relation to his redundancy. The matter came before Antoni Lucev J in the Federal Court of Australia.

The primary legal issue before the Court was whether Georgiou Group Pty Ltd had contravened the general protections provisions by making the applicant's position redundant for a prohibited reason. Ancillary to this, the Court was required to consider whether to grant an adjournment of the proceedings due to the respondent's former solicitor failing to inform them of the hearing dates, and the respondent's senior officers failing to make adequate inquiries regarding those dates. The Court also had to determine objections to evidence, including hearsay and an affidavit filed late that was identical in content to another witness's earlier affidavit, which the applicant argued constituted an abuse of process.

His Honour considered the factors relevant to an adjournment, noting the respondent's lack of diligence in ascertaining hearing dates despite the former solicitor's alleged failure. The Court also addressed the hearsay objection, finding that the source of knowledge was not sufficiently included in the affidavit. Regarding the late-filed affidavit, His Honour found that its identical content to a previous affidavit, coupled with the timing of its filing, raised concerns about an abuse of process. Ultimately, the Court dismissed the application for an adjournment and proceeded to hear the substantive application.