Skip to main content

Renegade contractor ordered to return files

An employer has won a court order for a contractor to return its confidential information, some three years after they parted ways on unfriendly terms.
Blue Badge Insurance Australia retained the contractor between April 2013 and November 2014 to provide advice on regulatory and compliance issues, and the end of the assignment was not "amicable".
Blue Badge then reminded the contractor about her confidentiality obligations, which included that she must return or destroy all documents, electronic storage media and other materials relating to or containing its confidential business information.
Blue Badge took court action after its numerous attempts to recover the documents failed, and NSW Supreme Court Justice Francois Kunc delivered his judgment on the same day as the hearing in the contractor's absence, satisfied that she "deliberately refused to engage" with the Court, and likely still had Blue Badge's confidential information in her possession.
He ordered the contractor to deliver up hard-copy documents, computers and other electronic storage devices for inspection, or to file an affidavit identifying each document, the manner in which they were held, the date in which she ceased to have custody of them, and why she no longer has each document.
"I am satisfied that all she has done (or not done) has been in an attempt to thwart both Blue Badge in the pursuit of its clear rights and the processes of the Court," Justice Kunc said, noting that her unreasonable conduct also warranted a costs order against her.
AWPTI - workplace investigation Sydney and through-out NSW, QLD and Victoria. Workplace training national wide


Misconduct investigations, bullying investigations, harassment investigations & sexual harassment investigations, complaint investigations, grievance investigations, discrimination investigations
www.awpti.com.au
http://awpti.com.au/investigations/
http://awpti.com.au/training/
Labels:
Location: Sydney NSW, Australia

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lorna Jane vindicated after two-year, $570,000 bullying case

Legal experts are urging businesses to train their staff in up-to-date social media policies this year, after activewear brand Lorna Jane won a two-year legal battle in November against a former employee who claimed the company was responsible for the psychiatric impacts of bullying at work. Former Brisbane store manager Amy Robinson filed a legal claim against Lorna Jane in 2015, seeking $570,000 in damages. The former manager claimed Lorna Jane was negligent and should be held responsible for her being bullied by a learning and development manager at the company, which led to psychiatric illness and a loss of employment and future employability. The company came out swinging against the claims early on,   posting a later-deleted Facebook post in 2015 defending itself against the claims  and saying it had been “very disappointed” by what had been reported in the media about the case. The claims included that Robinson was bullied and called a variety of names while...
Post a Comment
Read more

Recent decisions at the Fair Work Commission

Knowledge is power when it comes to managing claims risk Unfair dismissal applications are all too common and employers regularly find themselves in hot water when they are on the receiving end of one. Whilst the outcome of every unfair dismissal case tends to turn on its own individual merits, opportunities to learn and refresh one’s knowledge consistently arise – and knowledge is power when it comes to managing claims risk. To assist you in managing your unfair dismissal claims risk, this article set out some important lessons and reminders compiled from a number of recent unfair dismissal decisions made by the Fair Work Commission. If an employee has “gotten away” with certain conduct in the past, it can be difficult to later justify their dismissal for such conduct. In West v Holcim (Australia) Pty Ltd [2017] FWC 2346, the applicant employee allowed a casual labour hire worker to operate a crane without adequate supervision. This was despite the fact that the labour hire wo...
Post a Comment
Read more
The serious threat SMEs are ignoring: One in two small businesses don’t have a policy for bullying claims One in two small businesses do not know how they would respond if bullying allegations were raised by their staff, according to new research, leaving them open to significant costs and productivity issues. But workplace experts say these concerns can be prevented with forward planning A survey of 400 businesses from employment relations advisory Employsure found one in two Australian small businesses don’t have a “defined action plan” for when bullying is raised at work, with many unaware that they could face costs related to dispute resolution or even penalties relating to bullying cases in some states. The research, which surveyed businesses with up to 15 employees, found those businesses with between two and four employees were the most likely to be unaware of best practice processes for dealing with bullying claims, with only 40% of businesses saying they know the st...
Post a Comment
Read more