I guess many will say Tova O’Brien got her comeuppance in trying to buck the ‘restraint of trade’ clause she signed up to in her contract when she left her job as TV3’s political editor to work for Mediaworks.
In declining to uphold her claim the Employment Relations Authority also ordered that O’Brien pay TV3 $2,000 for the deliberate breaches of her employment agreement.
Contracts are contracts. You break a contract and the aggrieved party is entitled to pursue any remedies provided for in law.
I guess Tova, as one of Jacinda’s little helpers, thought she was above the law and that she could count on Labour to come to her rescue. And she wasn’t mistaken. Labour MP Helen White has backed O’Brien and called for restraint of trade clauses to be scrapped. Problem for Tova is that White isn’t the Employment relations Authority.
What goes around comes around.
No Minister 
Only two grand?
Why. that wouldn’t pay for the dog biscuits and oats at a Labour Party wedding.
She both lost and won.
She did get a significant reduction in the time period of the restraint of trade, from 12 weeks down to 7 weeks. Which I imagine is much more valuable than the $2,000 costs awarded against her.
Wayne … for me the issue is the sanctity of a contract entered into willingly. No-one forced O’Brien into signing the contract. She did and cried ‘poor me’ when she broke it. No sympathy from where I sit.
Meanwhile back at the ranch….
Andrei … stop stealing my Thursday thunder.
Maybe I missed something but I was under the impression that all Tova was doing was moving from one branch of media to different one for the same employer.
Therefore no need for the restraint of trade to apply.
Should I tell Helen White that when I sold my business in 2009 I willingly signed a two year restraint of trade.
She signed a restraint of trade agreement – which she should have read or at least get her Lawyer to vet and explain.
I had a 18 month restraint some years ago – didn’t they pay for it too at the time (tax free) and I didn’t say I was sick of them and was going to retire when I was ready anyway, which was a few months later.