What the Tova O’Brien employment dispute tells us about the controversial nature of non-compete clauses. Nikki Mandow reports
The woman in the lift sighs wearily. It’s been a big day for staff at the Employment Relations Authority, she says as she heads home. Such a high profile case...
She’s talking about the legal dispute, heard by the authority over three days this week, between TV3’s about-to-be-former political editor Tova O’Brien and her about-to-be-former employer Discovery.
It’s a big deal – and not just for ERA staff.
O’Brien is leaving Discovery – the owner, since December 2020, of what was the TV arm of MediaWorks. She’s joining the radio arm of that same company, the company she worked for before the acquisition – MediaWorks. Her new role will be breakfast show host on the company’s as-yet-unlaunched Today FM radio network.
And it’s complicated.
Discovery wants to enforce a three-month, non-compete clause in O’Brien’s contract. If it wins, it could effectively prevent her joining MediaWorks until the end of April, thereby delaying the launch of the whole new network.
You can't have a news channel without a breakfast slot.
The presence of the clause in O'Brien's contract isn’t in doubt – restraint-of-trade clauses are in many, many contracts in New Zealand and elsewhere. From lawyers to hairdressers, senior managers to baristas.
Most people in that ERA hearing probably have some sort of restrictive provisions in their contracts.
I snuck a look at mine during a...
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