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.…

The B.C. Supreme Court has granted an interlocutory injunction restraining the vendor of a trucking company, Sonic Transport Ltd., from competing for a period of five years past the ending of his employment with the purchaser. Diamond Delivery bought Sonic from Leslie and Pam Calder in 2015. Leslie continued 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…

City Wide Towing and Recovery Service Ltd v Poole, 2020 ABCA 305 The Alberta Court of Appeal holds that blue-pencil severance may be used to alter restrictive covenants that restrain employee competition, provided the covenant was part of the sale of a business. The practice of “blue-pencil” severance in employment…

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…

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…