THE CANADIAN EMPLOYEE COMPETITION BLOG

Capital Direct Lending Corp. v. Blanchette, 2019 BCSC 1068; Brian L. Leipert Financial Services Ltd. v. Reiter, 2019 SKQB 310 Courts in BC and Saskatchewan come to opposite conclusions on whether the strong prima facie case threshold is applicable to establishing breach of fiduciary duty in claims for injunctive relief to prevent solicitation…

Alberta Computers.com v. Thibert, 2019 ABQB 964 The Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench awards $60,000 in damages against an employer that defamed its former employee while attempting to dissuade the local business community from doing business with him. One of the first byproducts of a key employee’s departure often is…

The British Columbia Court of Appeal radically altered the law of consideration last year in Rosas v. Toca. The Court held that, absent duress, unconscionability or other public policy concerns, a mid-contract variation will be enforceable as long as the parties agree to the variation. Against Rosas stand judicial presumptions of an inequality…

Genesis Fertility Centre Inc. v. Yuzpe, 2019 BCSC 233 A decision of the British Columbia Supreme Court rejects a claim for disgorgement of profits, even though the Defendants committed breaches of fiduciary duty and confidence. The decision is a reminder that, in employee competition cases, the courts will be mindful…

Telus Communications Inc. v. Golberg, 2018 BCSC 1825 A battle between corporate titans Telus Communications and Rogers Media highlights the danger of “overzealous drafting” of restrictive covenants, which enabled a former Telus executive to compete against his former employer. At the same time, the Supreme Court of British Columbia rebukes…

961945 Alberta Ltd (Servicemaster of Edmonton Disaster Restoration) v Meyer, 2018 ABQB 564, 2018 ABQB 564 The Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench holds that even where the evidence did not support an imbalance of bargaining power, the more rigorous approach to interpreting restrictive covenants was warranted in respect of a…

Jetco Heavy Duty Lighting v. Fonteyne, 2018 ABQB 345 The Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench cautions against conflating a valuable employee with a fiduciary employee, given the onerous obligations placed on fiduciaries. The decision underscores the importance of securing a reasonable restrictive covenant if an employer wishes to protect its…

Ceridian Dayforce Corporation v. Daniel Wright (2017 ONSC 6763),853947 B.C. Ltd. v. Source Office Furniture & Systems Ltd. (2016 BCSC 2233) A recent decision of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice refusing to enforce a non-competition clause highlights the many ways in which the drafter of a restrictive covenant can go too…

Canada’s big five banks and the financial planning industry will benefit by paying close attention to the difference between a “loyalty incentive” and a restraint of trade, as canvassed thoroughly by the Ontario Superior Court in Levinsky v. The Toronto-Dominion Bank, 2013 ONSC 5657. Levinsky, a managing director with TD Securities Inc.,…

One of the most-used strategies to argue that a non-compete or non-solicit provision is unenforceable is to point to any possible ambiguity in the wording used. In the leading Canadian decision, the Supreme Court of Canada held in J.G. Collins Insurance Agencies Ltd. v. Elsley Estate, 1978 CanLII 7 (SCC), that in order…