The Beautiful Body Co (Intl) Pty Limited v David Eric Hammer

In the case of The Beautiful Body Co (Intl) Pty Limited v David Eric Hammer, the plaintiff, a company involved in the business of selling beauty products, brought a claim for damages against the defendant individuals and a third defendant company, alleging misleading and deceptive conduct under section 42(1) of the Fair Trading Act 1987 (NSW). The plaintiff claimed that the defendant individuals represented that they were dealing with a particular entity and had the authority to commit this entity to a licensing agreement, when in fact they did not. The plaintiff also alleged that the third defendant company was a person involved in the contravention.

The court was required to determine whether the conduct of the defendant individuals constituted misleading or deceptive conduct under the Fair Trading Act, and whether the third defendant company was knowingly involved in any contravention. The court needed to assess whether the plaintiff's claims were substantiated by evidence, including whether the plaintiff had suffered damages due to the alleged misleading or deceptive conduct.

The court found that the individual defendants' conduct was not misleading or deceptive in the circumstances, as it was not capable of misleading the plaintiff. The court held that the plaintiff did not rely on the alleged inducement and, in any event, no damage was proven. Consequently, no damages were awarded to the plaintiff. Additionally, the court determined that the third defendant company was not knowingly involved in any contravention because its guiding minds were not aware of the material facts constituting the contravention, even if there was one.