Tran v Kodari Securities Pty Ltd (No 2) [2020] FCA 1819

Tran v Kodari Securities Pty Ltd (No 2) [2020] FCA 1819

Mr Tran did not establish any exception to the ordinary operation of s 570(1) of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth). The evidence relied on by Kodari Securities provided an adequate factual basis for the cross-claim, and the pleaded conduct was conceptually capable of causing financial loss, so it was not shown that the cross-claim was instituted without reasonable cause. Because the cross-claim was not shown to have been unreasonably brought, filing evidence in support of it under a Court-ordered timetable was not itself an unreasonable act. The refusal of Mr Tran's $75,000 offer was also not unreasonable because the result was not sufficiently predictable, the offer did not overcome the...

Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
18 December 2020
Procedural Posture
Application for Costs in Fair Work Adverse Action Proceeding / Determined on the Papers After Primary Judgment and After Appeal and Cross Appeal Were Dismissed
Outcome
The application for costs by the applicant was dismissed, with no order as to costs.
Legal Topics
['fair Work Act 2009 (cth) S 570' 'costs Exceptions' 'abandoned Cross Claim' 'offer of Compromise' 'unreasonable Act or Omission' 'proceedings Instituted Without Reasonable Cause']
['employment and Industrial Relations' 'costs' 'fair Work'] ['fair Work Act 2009 (cth) S 570' 'costs Exceptions' 'abandoned Cross Claim' 'offer of Compromise' 'unreasonable Act or Omission' 'proceedings Instituted Without Reasonable Cause']

Case Brief

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Procedural Posture

Application for Costs in Fair Work Adverse Action Proceeding / Determined on the Papers After Primary Judgment and After Appeal and Cross Appeal Were Dismissed

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ["Whether Kodari Securities' cross-claim was instituted without reasonable cause within the meaning of s 570(2)(a) of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth)." 'Whether filing and serving affidavit evidence in support of the cross-claim was an unreasonable act causing Mr Tran to incur costs within the meaning of s 570(2)(b) of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth).' "Whether the respondents' refusal to accept Mr Tran's offer to settle the proceedings for $75,000 was an unreasonable act causing him to incur costs within the meaning of s 570(2)(b) of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth)."]

Ratio Decidendi

Mr Tran did not establish any exception to the ordinary operation of s 570(1) of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth). The evidence relied on by Kodari Securities provided an adequate factual basis for the cross-claim, and the pleaded conduct was conceptually capable of causing financial loss, so it was not shown that the cross-claim was instituted without reasonable cause. Because the cross-claim was not shown to have been unreasonably brought, filing evidence in support of it under a Court-ordered timetable was not itself an unreasonable act. The refusal of Mr Tran's $75,000 offer was also not unreasonable because the result was not sufficiently predictable, the offer did not overcome the...

Court Disposition

The application for costs by the applicant was dismissed, with no order as to costs.

Orders

  • ['The application for costs by the applicant be dismissed.' 'There be no order as to costs.']