| Restrictions | OK |
|---|---|
| Jurisdiction | Employment Relations Authority - Auckland |
| Reference No | AA 277A/05 |
| Hearing date | 17 Aug 2005 |
| Determination date | 18 October 2005 |
| Member | A Dumbleton |
| Representation | G Pollak ; M Ryan |
| Location | Auckland |
| Parties | Canwest Radioworks Ltd v Reeves |
| Summary | PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE - Had previously been a consent order between the parties and compliance order in relation to that consent order - Applicant sought to obtain: recession of settlement agreement, reversal of performance under it between the parties, accounting by respondent for profit unlawfully made from alleged breach and restitution to applicant of that profit, penalty, and general damages or in the alternative compliance with the settlement agreement – Applicant accused respondent of breaching term that no further comment on matter would be made – Story in Woman’s Weekly about respondent and his partner – Part of story was devoted to the prank against respondent and personal grievance – Story also mentioned existence of rumours that respondent had received monetary compensation about which it is reported in the story that the respondent merely smiled, had shaken his head and replied “we all agreed not to talk about the case” – Also further comment in relation to question about compensation that “for a number of reasons the past year has been one of the most horrific and daunting times of my life” – However article also about respondent’s “Headliners” TV show and publicity for this show was reason behind story - Neither the respondent nor his partner were expressed to be the writer’s informant (rather writer was informed by public knowledge) - Whether breach of term of settlement – No evidence respondent directly commented to anyone about grievance – Whether respondent unwisely and too trustingly volunteered to be subject of story in a woman’s magazine and in that way inadvertently caused comment to be made – Respondent's current employer arranged for story not respondent – Tried to get mention of grievance removed before publication but magazine declined – Respondent did not benefit financially from publication of story – No misrepresentation by respondent about involvement with story prior to settlement agreement – No breach of contractual obligations |
| Result | Application dismissed ; Costs reserved |
| Statutes | ERA Second Schedule cl4 |
| Cases Cited | Kerr v Associated Aviation (Wellington) Ltd [2005] 1 ENZ 632 |
| Number of Pages | 7 |
| PDF File Link: | aa 277a_05.pdf [pdf 40 KB] |