RESTRAINT OF TRADE — Employment contracts — Employer seeks enforcement of post-employment non-compete and non-solicitation restraints — application for interlocutory injunction — test whether plaintiff has a sufficiently serious arguable case for a final injunction having regard to balance of convenience — strength of plaintiff's case especially significant where outcome of interlocutory application will effectively determine claim for final relief — seriously arguable that defendant is or will be in breach of non-compete and non-solicitation restraints — validity of restraints — legitimate interest of employer and reasonableness of restraint — employer has legitimate interest in relation to non-compete and non-solicitation restraints — reasonableness adjudged at time of entrance into contract — restraint reasonable in geographical and temporal scope when contract entered into — discretionary considerations — negative contractual stipulations like restraints may be reasonable at date of contract but court may nonetheless decline to grant injunctive relief — employee made redundant and not author of his own misfortune — pre-contractual representations made to employee by employer that employment would be continuing subsequently falsified — representation that restraints would apply only to senior managers in cases of redundancy — significance of customer connection reduced by restructuring of employer's business — employee could have obtained employment in another industry that would not involve breach of restraint — balance of convenience really a question of balance of injustice — grant of injunction in relation to non-compete restraint will put employee out of current employment — grant of injunction in relation to non-solicit restraint will not have adverse consequences on employee.
Case Details
Citation[2011] NSWSC 1095
CourtNSWSC
JurisdictionNew South Wales
Unlock so much more with Barrister AI
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 6 later cases that cite this judgment.
