Case Summary and it's Implications - Ross and Anor v Ice TV [2010] NSW CA 272

A recent New South Wales Court of Appeal decision upheld the validity of a restraint clause that prevented two executives from soliciting clients or competing with their former employer's business for 12 months. Despite this decision, the enforceability of restraints are still dependent on the facts of each case with the courts paying careful consideration to:

• the level of the employee in the organisation;
• the employee's knowledge of confidential information;
• the damage that could be caused by the employee moving across to a competitor; and
• the wording of the clause itself. 

Facts

In the long running Ice TV case, two senior executives of Ice TV Pty Ltd (Ice TV) had their employment terminated on three months' notice in accordance with the contract after the proposed float of the company collapsed. Ice TV distributed an electronic program guide to television known as the Ice Guide. The Ice Guide could be downloaded onto personal video recorders, set