THE CANADIAN EMPLOYEE COMPETITION BLOG

Several recent decisions are of interest to those advising on, and litigating, employee competition cases. First, the Alberta privacy commissioner finds that employers, in some circumstances, may disclose their former employees’ restrictive covenants to third parties. Two Alberta Courts provide analysis on assessing damages in successful actions for unlawful competition.…

During the running of a one-month notice of resignation given to her employer, an investment advisor wrote to the firm’s clients advising of her departure to establish a new business and of their investment options: staying at the firm, move to her new business or going elsewhere. In responding to…

Mandeville Holdings Inc. v. Santucci, 2021 ONSC 4321 An investment advisor’s negotiated sale of the good will in his book of business to a firm causes the Ontario Superior Court to construe his non-solicitation covenant as part of the sale of a business, not within an employment context. The court issues…

WJ Packaging Solutions Corp. v Park, 2021 BCSC 316 The BC Supreme Court holds that a five-year agreement prohibiting competition by a departed employee is enforceable, with less scrutiny applied as being a commercial agreement. The decision raises interesting considerations for employers contemplating negotiating non-compete or non-solicit covenants with former employees…

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…

As predicted earlier in this space, the British Columbia Court of Appeal’s decision in Edward Jones v. Voldeng, 2012 BCCA 295, is making it very difficult to enforce a non-solicit agreement in B.C. on an interim basis pending trial. In Hub International v. Redcliffe, 2012 BCSC 1280, one of the first decisions to apply Edward Jones,…

The British Columbia Court of Appeal has raised the bar considerably for employers hoping to obtain an injunction to enforce a non-solicit clause pending trial. In Edward Jones v. Voldeng, 2012 BCCA 295, released July 3, 2012, the court held that Edward Jones, a securities firm that sought to enforce a six-month…

Word out of Alberta that the plaintiff company in Globex Foreign Exchange Corporation v. Kelcher, 2011 ABCA 240, will not be appealing the Alberta Court of Appeal decision to the Supreme Court of Canada. That’s too bad for those of us who had hoped for some clarification from the nation’s top…