Former Newshub political editor Tova O’Brien’s high-profile Employment Relations Authority hearing may end up having the opposite effect to the one her previous employers want, employment lawyers say.
O’Brien’s January 24 start on breakfast radio with Mediaworks may be delayed by a restraint of trade clause in her contract with TV3 owners Discovery NZ.
Other broadcasters caught up in similar wrangles in the past included Hilary Barry, who delayed her move from TV3 to TVNZ's Breakfast show in 2016, and Mike McRoberts, who won a case releasing him from a TVNZ restraint of trade clause in 2001.
“The starting position is restraints of trade are prima facie unlawful because they go against the public policy of free market and free movement of labour. The starting position is they’re unenforceable,” employment law specialist, barrister Michael O’Brien said
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An employer had to show it had a proprietary interest to protect, such as confidential information, and that the restraint it was trying to enforce was reasonable.
“The interesting thing about the Tova case is a TV company saying a radio station is a competitor of theirs,” said O’Brien, who noted that “all this is doing is giving a whole lot of free publicity to Tova’s new gig”.
The clauses...
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