Details  Created: 27 March 2020

The Full Bench has unanimously dismissed an appeal against a decision of the Road Freight Transport Industry Tribunal (Tribunal) that found that the respondent lawfully terminated a Cartage Agreement (Agreement) with the appellant after the appellant’s conduct was found to constitute serious misconduct as well as a serious safety breach of the Agreement.

At first instance, the Tribunal found that by continuing to move his truck towards another driver when he was, or should have been, aware that the driver was in front of his truck, the appellant’s conduct constituted serious and wilful misconduct or alternatively, reckless indifference.

The Tribunal found that the appellant’s conduct constituted a serious safety breach for the purposes of the Agreement and that the respondent’s ground for the termination of the Agreement was justified at the time the decision was made and it was not unlawful.

On appeal, the appellant argued that the Tribunal’s findings were not supported by the evidence or did not take account of certain matters. The appellant also argued that certain conclusions made by the Tribunal were in error.

Upon viewing the footage of the incident, the Full Bench unanimously observed that the appellant had provoked the other driver, and then, after being infuriated at being gestured to, deliberately drove in the direction of the other driver with his truck contacting the other driver. He was not in a blind spot. The Full Bench found that there was no error in the Tribunal’s findings nor in the acceptance and rejection of certain evidence. The Full Bench determined that they were findings that were open to the Tribunal to make based on all the evidence. Further, it found the conduct was serious misconduct and wilful.

The appeal was dismissed.

The decision can be read here.