ACCC commences proceedings against Mr Richard Alexander Roberson for alleged breaches of undertaking
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has instituted legal proceedings in the Federal Court against Mr Richard Alexander Roberson alleging breaches of a court enforceable undertaking Mr Roberson offered to the ACCC on 27 March 2008 pursuant to section 87B of the Trade Practices Act 1974.
During the period May 2007 to October 2007, Mr Roberson, trading as Backpacker Employment Services, published advertisements in various media including newspapers and the internet, offering fruit picking jobs in New South Wales and Queensland. Mr Roberson represented that he could guarantee supply of such jobs to unemployed persons on condition that they pay a subscription to BES at a cost of $50 for six months' duration or $100 for 12 months' duration.
An investigation by the ACCC found that Mr Roberson had no reasonable grounds for representing that he could offer the specified fruit picking jobs, or for representing that he could guarantee employment for the duration of a subscription period. The ACCC was concerned that in making such representations, Mr Roberson engaged in conduct in contravention of sections 52, 53(c) and (d) and 53B of the Act. Mr Roberson provided the section 87B undertaking in order to address the ACCC's concerns.
The ACCC now alleges that Mr Roberson failed to comply with a number of the terms of the section 87B undertaking, including that he:
publish consumer notices in the Port Macquarie News and the Manning River Times
write in the form required by the undertaking to affected consumers offering refunds to them
attend trade practices law compliance training, and
implement a complaints handling system.
The ACCC is seeking the following orders:
declarations that Mr Roberson has breached a number of terms of the section 87B undertaking
a range of injunctions to ensure that the section 87B undertaking is complied with in the future, and
costs.
The matter has been listed for a directions hearing before Justice Graham in the Federal Court, Sydney at 9.30 a.m. on 1 September 2008.
