Common law duties (eg trust and confidence) page 4 of 5

45 articles are classified in All Articles > Legal > Common law duties (eg trust and confidence)


Senior public official loses breach of contract case

A state government that lost confidence in its mining warden did not breach his employment contract when it removed him from office, nor did it contravene trade practices laws when it originally offered him the role, a court has ruled.

Court refuses pre-case discovery to back confidence breach suspicions

The Federal Court has refused to compel three employees to hand over documents to their former employer to help it decide whether to sue them for breaching contract and corporations laws, finding the company had failed to make enough inquiries of its own before seeking discovery orders.

Bungled HR investigation breached contract: Full court

A shipping company breached an officer's contract of employment and failed to follow its discrimination policy when it conducted a flawed investigation into alleged bullying by her captain, a full Federal Court has ruled.

After Barker, lawyers turn to implied duty of good faith

Employee lawyers are reframing contract of employment claims to include a duty of good faith in the wake of the High Court rejecting an implied duty of trust and confidence, but face an uphill battle to entrench the principle in Australian law, according to some senior academics.

Summary dismissal in the eye of the beholder: Court

The NSW Supreme Court has ruled that the ANZ Bank did not need to prove that an executive leaked a doctored email to the media before sacking him without notice, only that it had formed the "opinion" that he had.

Employee's "flagrant" copyright breach costs him $50,000

A software engineer breached his employment contract, his equitable duty of confidence, the Copyright Act and the Corporations Act when he downloaded more than 380,000 of his employer's files onto a hard drive, just before he resigned, a court has found.

Chef's undisclosed $1 mark-up breached contractual duties

A hotel chef breached his contractual duty of fidelity and fiduciary duties by sourcing chicken schnitzels through his wife's business and selling them to his employer for $1 more than their original purchase price, a court has found.

Reasonable notice payout lifts employee's damages over $1m

A financial controller sacked by a global shipping company will recover more than $1m after a court ruled she was entitled to ten months' notice of termination of her employment and long service leave based on her full salary package.

Lawyer loses adverse action, bullying case

A court has found that a law firm acted quickly to investigate claims of harassment by one of its solicitors and was entitled to treat emails from her stating that the employment relationship had broken down as a resignation.

Court orders public prosecutions office to reinstate lawyer

Victoria's Office of Public Prosecutions has been ordered pay a $10,000 fine and to reinstate a solicitor it subjected to unlawful adverse action when it stood him down then dismissed him for misconduct that "arose wholly" from his anxiety and depression.