The claimant sought to enforce a post employment restrictive covenant. There was a 6 months’ prohibition, post-termination of employment (less any period of garden leave) on any employment which was competitive with the business of a former employer.
Held: When considering a restrictive covenant the court must first decide what it means when properly construed, secondly whether the former employers have a legitimate business interest requiring protection in relation to the employee’s employment, and thirdly once such interests have been established the covenant must be shown to be no wider than is reasonably necessary for the protection of those interests. Even where the covenant is held to be reasonable the court will then finally decide whether, as a matter of discretion, injunctive relief should be granted having regard to its reasonableness at the time of trial. The court cannot blue pencil or sever parts of a restrictive covenant unless that can be done without changing the sense of the contract.
Judges:
Cox J
Citations:
[2004] EWHC 3181 (QB), [2005] IRLR 246
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Office Angels Ltd v Rainer-Thomas CA 1991
Reasonability Test of Post Employment Restriction
The court re-stated the principles applicable in testing whether an employee’s restrictive covenant was reasonable: ‘The court cannot say that a covenant in one form affords no more than adequate protection to a covenantee’s relevant legitimate . .
Cited by:
Cited – Intercall Conferencing Services Ltd v Steer QBD 15-Mar-2007
The claimant company sought an interim injunction to prevent the defendant, a former employee, from working for a competitor in breach of a clause in his contract and from divulging any confidential information. The defendant said that the . .
Cited – Intercall Conferencing Services Ltd v Steer QBD 15-Mar-2007
The claimant company sought an interim injunction to prevent the defendant, a former employee, from working for a competitor in breach of a clause in his contract and from divulging any confidential information. The defendant said that the . .
Cited – Associated Foreign Exchange Ltd v International Foreign Exchange (UK) Ltd and Another ChD 26-May-2010
The claimant sought interim injunctions to enforce a restrictive covenant against solicitation of customers in a former employee’s contract. The employee, a FOREX dealer, had been placed on garden leave for three months and then his contract . .
Cited – Tillman v Egon Zehnder Ltd SC 3-Jul-2019
The company appealed from rejection of its contention that its former employee should be restrained from employment by a competitor under a clause in her former employment contract. . .
Cited – Tillman v Egon Zehnder Ltd SC 3-Jul-2019
The company appealed from rejection of its contention that its former employee should be restrained from employment by a competitor under a clause in her former employment contract. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Employment, Contract
Updated: 10 April 2022; Ref: scu.269953
