Uniflex (Australia) Pty Ltd v Hanneybel

Uniflex (Australia) Pty Ltd brought proceedings against its former State Manager, Warren David Hanneybel, in the Supreme Court of Western Australia. Uniflex complained of certain allegedly defamatory words published by Hanneybel following the termination of his employment and the alleged breach of certain confidentiality obligations concerning the affairs of the plaintiff. Uniflex sought a permanent injunction to restrain any repetition of the conduct complained of. The court found that the words spoken by Hanneybel were not defamatory, as they were not likely to lower Uniflex in the estimation of its fellows. The court also found that the rule prohibiting the use of discovered documents for collateral purposes did not apply in this case, as the documents in question were not produced as a result of a formal discovery process. The court held that Hanneybel had breached an implied term of his contract of employment by disclosing confidential information to a major customer of Uniflex. The court granted Uniflex a permanent injunction to restrain Hanneybel from publishing or republishing the allegedly defamatory words and from using any affidavits filed in the previous litigation for any purpose other than those proceedings.