Geelong Sheds ordered to pay court costs as lawsuit against ex-director Brett Daffy dismissed

A lawsuit filed by a Geelong shed builder against its former director has been thrown out by the County Court, with the company now forced to pay thousands in legal costs.

Geelong Sheds’ former office. Picture: Google Maps

A lawsuit filed by a Geelong shed builder against its former director has been thrown out by the County Court, with the company now forced to pay thousands in legal costs.

Geelong Sheds Pty Ltd filed a lawsuit in the Melbourne County Court in July last year, alleging former director Brett Daffy and former shareholder Youden Dolma owed more than $400,000 plus interest in unpaid loans.

In October Geelong Sheds amended its claims and added a third defendant, RHO Enterprises Pty Ltd, to the suit.

Geelong Sheds claimed Mr Daffy had been loaned $38,283.99, Ms Dolma had been loaned $282,873.48 while RHO Enterprise was alleged to owe $83,064.94.

Mr Daffy was director of Geelong Sheds from January 2018 to May 2021, and Ms Dolma, also Mr Daffy’s de facto partner, was a shareholder of the company until December 2021.

Both defendants denied all claims and lodged multiple defence statements with the court, with the matter set for trial in September.

Brett Daffy and Youden Dolma. Picture: Facebook

However Geelong Sheds’ case began to unravel in the new year, when lawyers for the embattled company quit.

The court granted law firm TJ Mulvany & Co leave to cease representing their client on January 25 and four days later the Brighton-based law firm was officially off the case.

A sworn affidavit by George Kift, a solicitor at TJ Mulvany & Co, was marked as confidential in the court file.

Following the firm’s exit, no representative for Geelong Sheds appeared at a hearing on February 9, prompting the court to order the company to pay $65,000 as “security for the costs of the defendants up to and including mediation” by March 11.

On Wednesday, the matter was dismissed by judicial registrar, David Bennett.

The Geelong Advertiser last year reported allegations that some Geelong Sheds customers were left more than $20,000 out of pocket or with half-finished products.

The director of the company declined to comment at the time.

In its lawsuit Geelong Sheds had alleged Mr Daffy had, during his time as director, put himself “in a position of conflict” and made an “unauthorised profit” for himself.

The lawsuit had claimed Mr Daffy was responsible for arranging loans to himself, Ms Dolma and RHO, “on an unsecured basis, without any documentation or terms relating to repayment”.

Solicitors for the defence argued the claims against them did not “contain any allegation of material fact” and denied money allegedly transferred constituted a loan agreement.

According to documents filed with the court by the defence, purported ledger accounts under the names of Mr Daffy, Ms Dolma and associated companies, did not “on its face” record monies advanced to the defendants, and did not “support the existence” of loan agreements.

Mr Daffy also argued he was owed in excess of $25,000 by Geelong Sheds after being ordered by a South Australian court in 2023 to pay money over a credit agreement the company had made with Stratco Pty Ltd in April 2021.

Originally published as Geelong Sheds ordered to pay court costs as lawsuit against ex-director Brett Daffy dismissed