Victoria Louise Sterne v Thfe Pty Limited t/as Tweed Health for Everyone Superclinic

The plaintiff, Victoria Louise Sterne, brought a claim against the defendant, Thfe Pty Limited trading as Tweed Health for Everyone Superclinic, alleging negligence and bullying and harassment. The matter was heard in the Supreme Court of New South Wales. The defendant applied to dismiss the negligence claim on the basis that it was an abuse of process, as the plaintiff had previously brought proceedings against the defendant in the Federal Circuit Court under the Fair Work Act, which were dismissed on the basis that the plaintiff was not a contractor to the defendant.

The court considered whether the plaintiff's negligence claim was estopped by the earlier Federal Circuit Court proceedings. The court found that the cause of action estoppel did not apply as the rights in both proceedings were not substantially similar. The court also considered whether Anshun estoppel applied, which prevents a party from relitigating a matter that has been or could have been decided in an earlier proceeding. However, the court found that Anshun estoppel was not established as it was not unreasonable for the plaintiff not to bring the negligence claim in the accrued jurisdiction of the Federal Circuit Court.

The court dismissed the defendant's application to dismiss the negligence claim as an abuse of process. The court found that the plaintiff's claim for damages for bullying and harassment was a separate and distinct cause of action from the earlier proceedings in the Federal Circuit Court, and that it was not an abuse of process for the plaintiff to bring the claim in the Supreme Court of New South Wales. The court noted that the plaintiff had a right to seek damages for bullying and harassment, and that the defendant had not established that the claim was an abuse of process. The court also noted that the plaintiff had not previously had an opportunity to litigate the negligence claim in the Federal Circuit Court, and that it was not unreasonable for the plaintiff to bring the claim in the Supreme Court of New South Wales.