King v Patrick Projects Pty Ltd (No 2) [2017] FCA 388

King v Patrick Projects Pty Ltd (No 2) [2017] FCA 388

The applicants instituted the Federal Court proceedings without reasonable cause because, when they commenced them, they knew that the same legal and factual dispute had failed in the Fair Work Commission and that the Full Bench had refused permission to appeal and found the substance of the claims without merit. Their Federal Court pleadings did not seek judicial review of the Full Bench's refusal or identify error by the Full Bench, and the amended claim disclosed no cause of action, was bound to fail, and amounted to an abuse of process. Having persisted with a hopeless claim despite an opportunity to re-plead, they were ordered to pay the respondents' costs on an indemnity basis.

Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
10 April 2017
Procedural Posture
Costs Application in Fair Work Act Proceedings / After the Applicants' Statement of Claim Was Struck Out and the Originating Application Dismissed; Heard on the Papers
Outcome
The respondents' application for indemnity costs was granted.
Legal Topics
['indemnity Costs' 'costs Under Fair Work Act 2009 (cth) S 570(2)(a)' 'proceedings Instituted Without Reasonable Cause' 'federal Court Costs Discretion']
['costs' 'industrial Law' 'employment and Industrial Relations'] ['indemnity Costs' 'costs Under Fair Work Act 2009 (cth) S 570(2)(a)' 'proceedings Instituted Without Reasonable Cause' 'federal Court Costs Discretion']

Case Brief

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Procedural Posture

Costs Application in Fair Work Act Proceedings / After the Applicants' Statement of Claim Was Struck Out and the Originating Application Dismissed; Heard on the Papers

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ['Whether the applicants instituted the proceedings vexatiously or without reasonable cause for the purposes of Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) s 570(2)(a).' 'Whether the respondents should receive their costs on an indemnity basis.' "Whether the applicants' attempt to pursue in this Court the same legal and factual dispute already determined in the Fair Work Commission was hopeless or an abuse of process."]

Ratio Decidendi

The applicants instituted the Federal Court proceedings without reasonable cause because, when they commenced them, they knew that the same legal and factual dispute had failed in the Fair Work Commission and that the Full Bench had refused permission to appeal and found the substance of the claims without merit. Their Federal Court pleadings did not seek judicial review of the Full Bench's refusal or identify error by the Full Bench, and the amended claim disclosed no cause of action, was bound to fail, and amounted to an abuse of process. Having persisted with a hopeless claim despite an opportunity to re-plead, they were ordered to pay the respondents' costs on an indemnity basis.

Court Disposition

The respondents' application for indemnity costs was granted.

Orders

  • ["The applicants pay the respondents' costs of the application on an indemnity basis."]