Judge rules restraint of trade policy too broad
Believing that junior hairstylist Joseph Vinciguerra (21) had breached a restraint of trade agreement‚ Carlton Hair International went to the Labour Court in Johannesburg asking for an urgent interdict to stop him working within 10km of its Hyde Park store for a year. But, says a TimesLIVE report, Judge Hilary Rabkin-Naicker sent the salon group packing‚ saying it was ‘unreasonable and against public policy’ to be so heavy-handed with a junior employee who qualified only six months earlier.‘
It is a common feature of Carlton’s business model that customers return every six to eight weeks ... to the particular stylist with whom they have a established a personal relationship of trust and who knows and understands their unique needs and desired results‚’ Carlton argued. But Rabkin-Naicker said Carlton’s ‘one size fits all’ restraint of trade document – covering all stylists from junior to senior – was problematic‚ and Vinciguerra’s client base was negligible.
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