Esso Australia Pty Ltd v Australian Workers Union
[2018] FCA 2089
At a glance
Source factsCourt
Federal Court of Australia
Decision date
2018-12-24
Before
Mr J, Jessup J, Wheelahan J
Source
Original judgment source is linked above.
Judgment (22 paragraphs)
- The parties consult and submit an agreed minute of order to reflect these reasons, and any further directions that are sought by 4.00 pm 17 January 2019. Note: Entry of orders is dealt with in Rule 39.32 of the Federal Court Rules 2011.
Introduction 1 These reasons relate to an interlocutory application by the respondent that it be excused from compliance with an order of the Court made 3 August 2018 that the parties give discovery of documents in relation to categories of documents to be served upon them.
Background 2 The applicants are the operator and a joint-venture partner in an oil and gas project in Bass Strait. By this proceeding the applicants seek the imposition of pecuniary penalties and orders for compensation in relation to contraventions of sections 343, 346, and 348 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) arising from unprotected industrial action organised by the respondent from 4 until 17 March 2015. The applicants seek the imposition of penalties under s 346 of the Act, and seek to invoke s 345(1) and (2) of the Act to support orders for compensation. 3 The contraventions that are relied on are the subject of declarations numbered 5 to 13 of Jessup J made on 13 August 2015. The reasons containing the findings supporting the declarations were published on 24 July 2015: Esso Australia Pty Ltd v Australian Workers' Union (2015) 253 IR 304. There were subsequent appeals to the Full Court, and to the High Court of Australia, which resulted in declarations numbered 1, 2, 3, and 4 (concerning whether industrial action was protected action) being set aside, with the High Court substituting a declaration that industrial action organised by the respondent subsequent to the respondent's contravention on 6 March 2015 of an order made by the Fair Work Commission was not protected action: Esso Australia Pty Ltd v Australian Workers' Union (2017) 350 ALR 404. 4 For present purposes, the circumstances giving rise to the proceeding are sufficiently summarised in paragraphs [13] to [15] of the reasons of the majority in the High Court, which draw upon the reasons of Jessup J at first instance. To that summary should be added that at the same time the unprotected industrial action organised by the respondent occurred, there was protected industrial action organised by other unions in respect of employees who were not members of the respondent, which counsel for the respondent submitted may have some significance to the relief sought by the applicants in this proceeding. 5 Illustrative of the contraventions that are the subject of the claim for penalties and compensation is declaration 6, which is in the following terms - 6. From 6:01 pm on 6 March 2015 until the making of the Court's interim order on 17 March 2015, the respondent contravened section 343 of the FW Act by organising the industrial actions notified to the applicant on 3 February 2015, with intent to coerce the applicant to: (a) exercise a workplace right by making an enterprise agreement or enterprise agreements with the Esso employees; or (b) exercise a workplace right in a particular action by making an enterprise agreement or enterprise agreements with the Esso employees on terms acceptable to the respondent. 6 The findings supporting this declaration included that the respondent contravened an order of the Fair Work Commission which came into effect at 6.00pm of 6 March 2015 by continuing to organise certain industrial action, with the consequence that the requirement for protected industrial action in s 413(5) of the Fair Work Act was not engaged, and all industrial action then became unprotected in the terms declared by the High Court. The applicants will allege that the industrial action extended beyond the industrial action that was held to be in contravention of the Commission's order of 6 March 2015, and extended to other action that was the subject of a notice from the respondent under s 414 of the Act dated 3 February 2015: Esso Australia Pty Ltd v Australian Workers' Union (2015) 253 IR 304 at 316-7 [31], 355 [153]. Whether any such industrial action was taken is an issue in respect of which the respondent makes no admissions, and is therefore a question that arises for determination in relation to the applicants' claims. 7 The applicants have filed and served particulars of compensation and penalties. The most recent iteration of those particulars was filed 25 July 2018. In general terms, by those particulars the applicants claim that as a result of the contraventions, a scheduled restart of the Longford plant following a planned maintenance shutdown was delayed from 17 March to 31 March 2015, with the consequence that there was an impairment of the joint venture's ability to produce oil and gas. The applicants claim compensation for lost revenue of the joint venture, which is claimed at AUD 44,315,181.61 together with interest under statute. 8 At an interlocutory hearing before Tracey J on 15 June 2018 counsel for the respondent stated that the respondent reserved its right to argue the question whether the Court can make an order for compensation under s 545(2)(b) of the Fair Work Act for the benefit of a non-party, which in this case is the second applicant's joint-venture partner, BHP Billiton Petroleum (Bass Strait) Pty Ltd.