| Mercurius Ventures Ltd v Waitakere City Council | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Court | High Court of New Zealand |
| Full case name | Mercurius Ventures Ltd v Waitakere City Council |
| Decided | 7 March 1996 |
| Citation(s) | [1996] 2 NZLR 495 |
| Court membership | |
| Judge(s) sitting | Anderson J |
Mercurius Ventures Ltd v Waitakere City Council [1996] 2 NZLR 495 is a cited case in New Zealand regarding whether a contract illegal under law, can be subsequently validated under the Illegal Contracts Act 1970. [1]
The Waitakere City Council sought to appoint a business development officer for the city. After interviewing numerous applicants for the position, the council decided to hire Ms Howe, and offered her a starting annual salary of $80,000. In reply to this offer, Howe said that as she had been earning $120,000 a year self-employed for the past 2 years.
WDC then increased the starting salary to $100,000, which Howe accepted. However, thinking of the advantages (and not the disadvantages) of being a self-employed contractor, she asked the council if they would consider hiring her as a contractor for $120,000, which the council accepted, and Howe started work whilst the written contract was being drafted.
Several months into the contract, due to an unworkable relationship with the WDC management, they notified Howe that they were canceling her contract, giving 1 months notice. The council claimed that such a contract had to be in writing, and as the contract had not been done, they claimed it was legally unenforceable.
Howe initially made a claim for wrongful dismissal with the Employment Court, but withdrew this when she realized she was not an employee, but a contractor, and proceeded to file a claim for breach of contract instead.
During the discovery proceedings, the WDC discovered that her previous 2 years earnings were overstated, and they amended their defence to include misrepresentation.
The court validated the contract and awarded her damages of 1 month, $12,000.
Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any other entity, pays the other, the employee, in return for carrying out assigned work. Employees work in return for wages, which can be paid on the basis of an hourly rate, by piecework or an annual salary, depending on the type of work an employee does, the prevailing conditions of the sector and the bargaining power between the parties. Employees in some sectors may receive gratuities, bonus payments or stock options. In some types of employment, employees may receive benefits in addition to payment. Benefits may include health insurance, housing, disability insurance. Employment is typically governed by employment laws, organisation or legal contracts.
Kwame Malik Kilpatrick is a former American politician who served as the 72nd mayor of Detroit from 2002 to 2008. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously represented the 9th district in the Michigan House of Representatives from 1997 to 2002. Kilpatrick resigned as mayor in September 2008 after being convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice. He was sentenced to four months in jail and was released on probation after serving 99 days.
A subcontractor is an individual or a business that signs a contract to perform part or all of the obligations of another's contract.
An employment contract or contract of employment is a kind of contract used in labour law to attribute rights and responsibilities between parties to a bargain. The contract is between an "employee" and an "employer". It has arisen out of the old master-servant law, used before the 20th century. Employment contracts relies on the concept of authority, in which the employee agrees to accept the authority of the employer and in exchange, the employer agrees to pay the employee a stated wage.
Offer and acceptance are generally recognised as essential requirements for the formation of a contract, and analysis of their operation is a traditional approach in contract law. The offer and acceptance formula, developed in the 19th century, identifies a moment of formation when the parties are of one mind. This classical approach to contract formation has been modified by developments in the law of estoppel, misleading conduct, misrepresentation, unjust enrichment, and power of acceptance.
Barristers in England and Wales are one of the two main categories of lawyers in England and Wales, the other being solicitors. Barristers have traditionally had the role of handling cases for representation in court, both defence and prosecution.
A severance package is pay and benefits that employees may be entitled to receive when they leave employment at a company unwillfully. In addition to their remaining regular pay, it may include some of the following:
Scentura also known as Scentura Creations is a perfume company based in the city of Chamblee, Georgia, within the Atlanta metropolitan area. It is a multilevel selling company which manufactures inexpensive imitations of designer fragrances. Independent salespeople are sent out, often in pairs, to sell perfume door-to-door, in parking lots, malls, or in other retail stores.
The New Zealand Employment Relations Act 2000 is a statute of the Parliament of New Zealand. It was substantially amended by the Employment Relations Amendment Act 2001 and by the ERAA 2004.
E-Verify is a United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) website that allows businesses to determine the eligibility of their employees, both U.S. and foreign citizens, to work in the United States. No federal law mandates use of E-Verify.
English contract law is the body of law that regulates legally binding agreements in England and Wales. With its roots in the lex mercatoria and the activism of the judiciary during the industrial revolution, it shares a heritage with countries across the Commonwealth, from membership in the European Union, continuing membership in Unidroit, and to a lesser extent the United States. Any agreement that is enforceable in court is a contract. A contract is a voluntary obligation, contrasting to the duty to not violate others rights in tort or unjust enrichment. English law places a high value on ensuring people have truly consented to the deals that bind them in court, so long as they comply with statutory and human rights.
The Bell scandal involved the misappropriation of public funds in Bell, California, United States, over a period of several years in the late 2000s. In July 2010, the Los Angeles Times published an investigative article on possible malfeasance in the neighboring city of Maywood, revealing that the city officials of Bell received salaries that were reported as the highest in the nation. Subsequent investigations found atypically high property tax rates, allegations of voter fraud in municipal elections and other irregularities which heightened the ensuing scandal. These and other reports led to widespread criticism and a demand for city officials to resign.
The Berlitz Japan 2007–2008 strike was a strike held by Berlitz Japan teachers of the Berlitz General Union Tokyo (Begunto), which was part of the National Union of General Workers (NUGW) before moving to Tozen Union in 2019. Beginning in December 2007 and continuing until November 2008, it grew into the longest and largest sustained strike among language teachers in Japan. Although the union had ceased strike action in November 2008, on December 3, 2008 Berlitz Japan sued the union and seven individual union officials for ¥110 million each (US$1,178,430) in the Tokyo District Court. The union took Berlitz to the Labor Commission for firing two teachers and several other complaints. Berlitz' suit against the union was dismissed by the Tokyo District Court on 27 February 2012, with "all claims rejected" but Berlitz decided within a week that it would appeal its loss to the High Court. After further negotiations and legal wrangling Berlitz's High Court case against the union was withdrawn on December 27, 2012.
Polymer Developments Group Ltd v Tilialo [2002] 3 NZLR 258 is a New Zealand case regarding the legality of contracts created to prevent a prosecution, which unlike the earlier similar precedents of Mall Finance v Slater [1976] 2 NZLR 685 and Barsdell v Kerr [1979] 2 NZLR 731, in this case however, although the contract was clearly illegal, relief was granted to the creditor.
Barsdell v Kerr [1979] 2 NZLR 731 is New Zealand case frequently cited with Mall Finance v Slater [1976] 2 NZLR 685 and Polymer Developments v Tilialo [2002] 3 NZLR 258 regarding illegal contracts prejudicial to the administration of justice under the Illegal Contracts Act [1970].
The Illegal Contracts Act [1970] is a New Zealand law that manages how contracts are deemed illegal under either common law or under Statute.
Lower Hutt City Council v Martin [1987] 1 NZLR 321 is a cited case in New Zealand regarding the validation of contracts under the Illegal Contracts Act 1970.
National Westminster Finance NZ Ltd v South Pacific Rent-a-Car Ltd [1985] 1 NZLR 646 is a cited case in New Zealand regarding the validation of illegal contracts under the Illegal Contracts Act 1970.
Teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL), Teaching English as a second language (TESL) or Teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) are terms that refer to teaching English to students whose first language is not English.
Endo refers to a short-term employment practice in the Philippines. It is a form of contractualization which involves companies giving workers temporary employment that lasts them less than six months and then terminating their employment just short of being regularized in order to skirt on the fees which come with regularization. Some examples of such benefits contractual workers do not get as compared to regularized workers are the benefits of having an employer-and-employee SSS, Philhealth, and Pag-ibig housing fund contribution, unpaid leaves, and a 13th-month pay, among others.
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