Employment agreement barred him from soliciting clients or using confidential information for 12 months
An Ontario court has decided a former general manager can keep running his new storage container business, ruling his old employer couldn't prove he broke the rules on his way out the door.
Justice J.E. Mills of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice delivered the ruling on Sept.10, 2026. Ballance It Inc., which rents modified storage containers for concerts, markets and other events, had asked the court to stop its former general manager's new venture from competing while the case moves toward trial.
The judge said the evidence wasn't strong enough to justify that step, and ordered Ballance to pay the defendants $35,000 in costs.
The former general manager left Ballance It Inc. in November 2025, after the company terminated him and provided a severance package. His employment agreement barred him from soliciting Ballance's clients or using its confidential information for 12 months, and his separation agreement repeated those same promises.
Three weeks later, he joined PNH Enterprises Inc., which had some prior experience in the container business, to help launch a new competitor called BoxWorx Inc., taking a leadership role and a stake in the venture. BoxWorx quickly rolled out seven container designs, and the court noted five closely resembled Ballance's own.
The resemblance wasn't limited to the containers themselves. One BoxWorx...
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