Firm found guilty of contempt

MELBOURNE: The owner of liquidated apparel company Morrison Country Clothing has been found guilty of a contempt of court charge. Brian Morrison, who with wife Judy ran the Melbourne-based wholesale business, was found guilty of "wilfully" disobeying a court order handed down in September last year, requiring him to give discovery of documents requested by the Textile Clothing and Footwear Union (TCFUA) as part of outworker investigations.

The case came about after the TCFUA initiated proceedings against the company alleging it had "given work out" but failed to comply with the Clothing Trades Award.

Morrison Country Clothing failed to appear throughout the proceedings and did not file a defence.

In a decision handed down by Justice Tracey the court found that Morrison was personally liable for non-compliance with the court order.

A penalty hearing has been set down for October 10.

For more on this issue see the next issue of Ragtrader on sale October 3.