| Restrictions | OK |
|---|---|
| Jurisdiction | Employment Relations Authority - Auckland |
| Reference No | AA 133/10 |
| Determination date | 23 March 2010 |
| Member | Y S Oldfield |
| Representation | W Peters ; JD McBride |
| Location | Auckland |
| Parties | Haig v Carrington Farms Ltd and Ors |
| Other Parties | Edgewater Developers Ltd, PH II Incorporated |
| Summary | PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE - Application for removal to Employment Court (“EC”) – Applicant sought removal of matter to EC under s178(2)(d) Employment Relations Act 2000 (“ERA”) - Respondents opposed application – Applicant’s employment agreement provided for equity shareholding - When applicant’s employment ceased had not received shareholding - Respondents claimed subsequent employment agreement varied and superseded original agreement - Respondents claimed applicant’s entitlements now in relation to US based company and had negative value - Applicant claimed never agreed to variation or if did was deceived by respondents into agreeing - Jurisdictional dispute between parties went to Court of Appeal (“CA”) - CA determined NZ Courts had exclusive jurisdiction to interpret employment agreement and NZ appropriate forum for dispute - Applicant claimed nature of employment relationship complex, potential limits on remedies, overseas witness evidence required, and legal and factual arguments complex - Respondent claimed Authority routinely dealt with complex employment relationships, neither Authority or EC could make orders beyond claim for breach of contract and complexity not sufficient basis for removal - Authority accepted legal and factual issues complex - Found complexity alone not sufficient ground for removal - However, found numerous questions of law arose relating to how Contracts (Privity) Act 1982, Contractual Mistakes Act 1977, and Contractual Remedies Act 1979 applied to facts - Found EC provided greater options for dealing with practical and case management issues - Found grounds under s178(2)(d) ERA made out - Removal to EC ordered - Manager |
| Result | Application granted ; No order for costs |
| Main Category | Practice & Procedure |
| Statutes | Contracts (Privity) Act 1982;Contractual Mistakes Act 1977;Contractual Remedies Act 1979;ERA s135(5);ERA s142;ERA s162;ERA s178(2)(a);ERA s178(2)(d) |
| Cases Cited | Haig v Edgewater Developers Limited and Ors [2009] NZCA 390;NZ Amalgamated Engineering, Printing & Manufacturing Union Inc v Carter Holt Harvey Ltd [2002] 1 ERNZ 74 |
| Number of Pages | 9 |
| PDF File Link: | aa 133_10.pdf [pdf 31 KB] |