Employment: Judge dismisses restraint of trade claim

A top KZN private school has hauled its ‘neighboring’ competitor to court after the headmaster of one resigned and later took up a position at the other. A TimesLIVE report notes that Ashton International College in Ballito went to court to stop its former headmaster and MD Petrus Erasmus from taking up employment with the Curro Primary School, in the neighboring village of Salt Rock. Ashton claimed Erasmus was under a ‘restraint of trade’. But, KZN High Court (Durban) Judge Johan Ploos van Amstel said the agreement was not enforceable.

The judge said there was no information to support the alleged trade secrets, connections with customers or confidential information. The curriculum was also not confidential. Ploos van Amstel heard Ashton’s interdict application at the end of December. Erasmus opposed the interdict, while Curro filed a notice to abide by the decision of the court. On the same day, the judge dismissed it with costs because schools were due to open in January. He handed down his reasons. ‘A restraint clause such as the one the applicant wants to enforce is against public policy and unenforceable if its sole aim is to stifle competition,’ Ploos van Amstel said. ‘’Public policy demands that businesses should be allowed to compete and individuals to work and ply their trade freely, whatever they choose,’ he noted.