I am about to sue an ex employee for breach of contract

ethan said:
Does anybody know, of-hand, if there is a legal requirement to provide a second copy of a contract to the employee involved? Suprise suprise the employee claims she did not receive one sigh.

I am sueing her for going into direct competition with us by stealing a number of our clients. She abused her position in the company despite signing a contract which included Post Termination Restrictions prohibiting her from taking our clients for up to six months: as a consequence we are making a loss of £5000 over this period. We also employed another individual to replace her and take over her clients only to find that she had taken them with her.:confused: I aso intend to make an example of her.
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If you take legal action you are required to supply the person you are suing with all information and evidence pertaining to that action.

You will be obliged to not only supply her with a copy of the contract, but a copy of the original contract signed by her.

Get legal advice from a professional though before filing against her, you may find enforcing PTR's very difficult, especially if the clients moved of their own volition and without inducement from your ex-employee. You also have the issue that your PTR's may be deemed an unfair restriction of trade on the ex-employee and you may find yourself in the midst of a countersuit.

I am not a lawyer, but I can see some potential pitfalls with this. Get proper professional advice....quick.
 
[FnG]magnolia;19516309 said:
CAB or a solicitor versed in Employment Law would both be better choices than General Discussion of a computing forum, trainee solicitors posting here or not.
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That's not to say that there are no people on here running businesses that may have had a similar experience.
 
Isn't this a question you should be asking your lawyer and not the general discussion section of a computing related forum?
 
Get legal advice from a professional though before filing against her, you may find enforcing PTR's very difficult, especially if the clients moved of their own volition and without inducement from your ex-employee. You also have the issue that your PTR's may be deemed an unfair restriction of trade on the ex-employee and you may find yourself in the midst of a countersuit.
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Thank you for that.I shall get everything checked over prior to taking Action. Just to clarify, the clients did not move. She took them under the misconception that she was still working for us. She abused her position. The clients are vunerable adults, without going into too much detail and so they wouldn't have known any difference. It is a health care agency.
 
LOAM said:
Do you know for absolute certain she approached them and not vice versa ?
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Yes she approached them and undercut us despite agreeing to and signing that she understood the full particulars of the contract and the terms and conditions limiting her actions for six months.
 
ethan said:
Thank you for that.I shall get everything checked over prior to taking Action. Just to clarify, the clients did not move. She took them under the misconception that she was still working for us. She abused her position. The clients are vunerable adults, without going into too much detail and so they wouldn't have known any difference. It is a health care agency.
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Misconception? She "thought" she was still working for you? Or knew she wasn't but pretended she did?
 
From my basic understanding of employment law (work within HR for a 250 employee business), I have a legal obligation to provide two copies of the contract to the employee - both signed by me, and the employee then returns one signed (and keeps one)

But as has been said, do seek proper advice.
 
Suppose it depends on you proving that these are reasonable covenants also, even though they may seem so to you.
Also have you got proof the employee received a copy of this contract with these covenants included? Such as a signed copy etc?
And even if you have proof I cant see any court denying the employee the right to see the document again, so why would giving her another copy of the contract for her to look over be an issue? As obviously you will have this contract to hand already.
 
tres said:
From my basic understanding of employment law (work within HR for a 250 employee business), I have a legal obligation to provide two copies of the contract to the employee - both signed by me, and the employee then returns one signed (and keeps one)

But as has been said, do seek proper advice.
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Yes I did that. But she maintains she never signed or received one. She is now requesting a third to mull over the possible ramifications. She's had two, lost one and returned to us, the other. I do not see, at least up until the court date, that I should provide another: and even then, only to a solicitor.
 
ethan said:
Thank you for that.I shall get everything checked over prior to taking Action. Just to clarify, the clients did not move. She took them under the misconception that she was still working for us. She abused her position. The clients are vunerable adults, without going into too much detail and so they wouldn't have known any difference. It is a health care agency.
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My non-legal opinion is that you probably need industry specific specialist advice as it appears that it may be quite complex due to the vulnerable nature of your clients.

Good luck, on the surface it sounds like you have a reasonable and justifiable grievance, but get some specialist advice before proceeding as these things can get very complex and expensive very quickly.
 
Castiel said:
If you take legal action you are required to supply the person you are suing with all information and evidence pertaining to that action.

You will be obliged to not only supply her with a copy of the contract, but a copy of the original contract signed by her.
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It will form part of the OP's evidence and "Standard Disclosure".

If he didn't then I bet your ass they will ask for it. If the OP refuses then it they will make an application to Court to see it.

OP, you do have a signed copy right?
 
Raymond Lin said:
It will form part of the OP's evidence and "Standard Disclosure".

If he didn't then I bet your ass they will ask for it. If the OP refuses then it they will make an application to Court to see it.

OP, you do have a signed copy right?
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Absolutely.

Is the cost worth it? I understand the principal
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I have over 40 workers in this company should I allow them all to steal our clients?
 
ethan said:
Yes I did that. But she maintains she never signed or received one. She is now requesting a third to mull over the possible ramifications. She's had two, lost one and returned to us, the other. I do not see, at least up until the court date, that I should provide another: and even then, only to a solicitor.
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Give her a copy of her contract, if you appear to be obstructing her ability to defend herself in any way, you will both weaken your case and set a question mark on your integrity.

AFAIK you are legally obliged to supply her with any and all documentation pertaining to her employment, as well as any court action you may take against her. This is regardless of any action you may take.

Give her a copy of the contract.
 
Why did she leave? was she terminated, or did she quit?

From what little I know of this area, you'll find it extremely difficult to succeed. The terms contract must be very tightly defined to be reasonable and appropriate to the status of the employee in relation to the company, and in terms of the region/scope of non-competition. Did the terms specify that the employee would continue to be paid gardening leave during the non-compete period?
 
.....as soon as I have collected all the evidence, video included she will receive a copy ;)
 
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