CARMEL RICKARD: When employees behave badly
A restraint of trade agreement may have gone missing mysteriously, but that didn’t let a former employee get away with an unscrupulous business practice
Imagine this: a key staffer makes off with your company’s trade secrets in his head and filches a customer as well as a whole work team — and the restraint of trade agreement he supposedly signed has mysteriously "disappeared". Just a few months ago, this particular nightmare became only too real for security fencing installation company Perimifence. In June 2018, the company hired Karish Naidoo as office administrator and project co-ordinator. This crucial position gave him access to information about the company’s entire administration, finances and business practices. Perimifence would later explain to the court that the fencing business is hugely competitive, so developing and maintaining precise costing data is critical. Naidoo was exposed to all the information he needed for proper quoting on jobs and liaising with customers. Because he ordered from suppliers, he knew the comparative prices of the material needed. He also scheduled projects and was in charge of the staff payro...
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