Supreme Court Issues Landmark Restrictive Covenant Ruling

The Supreme Court handed down its much anticipated ruling yesterday in the case of Tillman v. Egon Zehnder Limited. The primary issue before the court was whether words could be severed from a restrictive covenant clause in order to render it enforceable and not invalid as an unreasonable restraint of trade.

Background

Ms Tillman was employed by the management consultancy firm, Egon Zehnder Ltd, in numerous roles from 2004, before progressing to Global Head of Financial Services in 2012. When she later resigned in 2017 and sought to join a competitor firm, Egon Zehnder argued that this was a breach of the non-compete provision in her employment contract.

The clause in question stated that she would not "directly or indirectly engage or be concerned or interested in" any business carried on in competition with Egon Zehnder for six months following her termination. Ms Tillman's stated reason for not observing the clause hinged on the words "interested in". She