Watson v Materia as trustees for the Sam Materia Family Trust

In the case of Watson v. Salvatore Materia and Anna Maria Materia as trustees for the Sam Materia Family Trust, the applicant, Joelene Watson, sought to amend the name of the respondent in her proceedings. Watson initially named the Materia Bros. Salvatore Family Trust as the respondent but later sought to amend the name to the Sam Materia Family Trust. The respondent, represented by counsel Mr Mazzone, argued that the application was void ab initio because a trust could not be sued. The court was required to decide whether the applicant could amend the name of the respondent under Order 13 of the Industrial Relations Court Rules and whether the application was void.

The court found that the principles in Établissement Baudelot v R. S. Graham & Co. Ltd (1953) 2 QB 271 applied to this case. The court held that the issue was whether the respondent as named Materia Bros. Salvatore Family Trust or Sam Materia Family Trust represented something existing. The court was satisfied that the respondent represented something existing, namely the entity that employed the applicant in a fruit shop in Warrnambool. The court held that this was a case of misnomer, which the Rules of Court under Order 13 addressed. The court found that an amendment to properly name the respondent would not alter the true identity of the party but merely correct the name of the party.

The court invited counsel for the applicant to indicate what amendment he sought to make to the name of the respondent. The court ordered that the name of the respondent in this proceeding henceforth be Salvatore Materia and Anna Maria Materia as trustees for the Sam Materia Family Trust. The court certified that the three preceding pages were a true copy of the reasons for decision of Murphy JR as recorded in the transcript and revised by the Judicial Registrar.