Reserved judgment — application to set aside defendant's appearance — protest to jurisdiction cessation of employment — JP Morgan Chase Bank NA v Lewis [2015] NZCA 255 — Hibernian Catholic Benefit Society v Hagai [2014] NZHC 24 — Employment Relations Act 2000, s 161.The plaintiff claimed judgment for $75,000.00 against the defendants for failing to uphold the terms of their cessation of employment agreement. The defendants filed an appearance under protest to jurisdiction on the basis that the Employment Relations Authority has exclusive jurisdiction to deal with the matter. The court found that the dispute was one which had nothing to do with the employment agreement but rather was entirely a dispute about whether an aspect of the settlement agreement had been complied with, having found that these two agreements were entirely separate and could be considered as such. The court considered the "JP Morgan" case and found that there were no material differences between the facts of that case and the application, and that it should be followed. The defendants appearance under protest to jurisdiction was accordingly set aside. The court then considered the plaintiff's claim to costs and found that he was entitled to costs in respect of the opposed application. Judgment Date: 13 March 2017