Australia, Sept. 9 -- New South Wales Land and Environment Court issued text of the following judgement on Aug. 8:
1. THE COURT: The applicant (Craig Paulson) seeks leave to appeal from a decision dated 21 May 2024 by the primary judge (Ainslie-Wallace ADCJ). Her Honour summarily dismissed proceedings brought by the applicant in the District Court claiming damages for breach of a contract of employment against the respondent (the State of New South Wales). The summary dismissal followed the applicant's failure to file an amended statement of claim within 28 days as previously ordered. The applicant subsequently filed a notice of motion seeking an extension of time to file a proposed amended statement of claim. The primary judge did not grant the extension of time and leave to file the proposed amended statement of claim was refused.
2. The parties consented to the application for leave to appeal being dealt with on the papers.
3. For the following reasons, leave to appeal will be refused, with costs.
Relevant background summarised
4. The applicant commenced employment with the respondent in or around 2000 and held various positions in the Department of Justice until his employment was terminated on 20 October 2014 for alleged misconduct following an internal investigation.
5. The applicant pursued several avenues of redress, including commencing proceedings in the Industrial Relations Commission (the Commission) to challenge the termination of his employment. The hearing of his application to the Commission was delayed as he agitated his claims in other forums, before finally being heard by the Commissioner in March and May of 2017.
6. On 7 July 2017, Commissioner Murphy found the applicant's dismissal was "harsh", noting that some of the allegations of misconduct on the part of the applicant were substantiated and others were not (see Paulson v Industrial Relations Secretary (Department of Justice) [2017] NSWIRComm 1037 at [258]-[259]). The Commissioner found that reinstatement or re-employment was not practicable and ordered that the applicant be awarded compensation based on 13 weeks' pay: [276]-[280]. The applicant sought leave to appeal from this decision, which was refused by the Full Bench of the Commission on 25 January 2018 (see Paulson v Industrial Relations Secretary (Department of Justice) [2018] NSWIRComm 1004).
Proceedings in the District Court
7. On 22 December 2022, the applicant filed a statement of claim in the District Court seeking damages for breach of contract. The basis for that claim rested on two terms sought to be implied in the contract of employment that were said to arise from s 47 of the Government Sector Employment Act 2013 (NSW). This pleading was not served upon the respondent until 3 January 2023.
8. On 10 March 2023, the respondent filed a notice of motion seeking summary dismissal of proceedings pursuant to r 13.4(1) of the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW) (UCPR).
*Rest of the document can be viewed at: (https://www.caselaw.nsw.gov.au/decision/1988304c01292bea71add2bb)
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