Timothy Con v Jant Ltd

• Jurisdiction: Papua New Guinea
• Citation: (2014) N5721
• Date: 09 September 2014
• Court: National Court
• Year: 2014

Full : WS NO 1019 OF 2013; Timothy Con v Jant Limited (2014) N5721

National Court: Cannings J

Judgment Delivered: 9 September 2014

DAMAGES—breach of contract—assessment of damages following trial on liability—failure by employer to pay final entitlements upon retirement of employee—whether plaintiff entitled to general damages for hardship and distress—whether plaintiff entitled to damages not sought in statement of claim.

The plaintiff established liability in breach of contract against the defendant, his former employer, due to the defendant’s failure to pay, by an agreed date, all items it was obliged to pay or provide to him as final entitlements. At this trial on assessment of damages, the plaintiff claimed two categories of damages: (1) general damages (hardship and suffering) of K10,000.00 and (2) special damages of K32,503.00, being a total claim of K42,503.00.

Held:

(1) The claim for general damages was excessive. K5,000.00 was awarded.

(2) The part of the special damages claim (K13,303.00) that related to the amount due under the contract of employment was upheld, but the part that related to alleged unpaid duty allowances (K19,200.00) was refused as it was not pleaded in the statement of claim.

(3) The total award of damages was K18,303.00. In addition, interest of K3,572.75 was awarded. The total judgment sum was K21,875.75. The defendant was ordered to pay the plaintiff’s costs.

Cases cited

The following cases are cited in the judgment:

George Podas v Divine Word University (2011) N4395

Kondai v Siki and...