Judge rejects IT contractor’s damages case against Clarius

A former IT contractor with Clarius has lost a bid for damages against the company, after it restrained her from contracting directly with its client, Woolworths.

Clarius (then Candle) placed the IT project manager with Woolworths in 2007, on a three-month contract. She provided her services through a personal services company, Informax International Pty Ltd, which Candle paid $792 a day.

The project manager subsequently worked at Woolworths for over a year, and then 18 months later used her contacts at the company to line up a new placement, but this time she did so directly with Woolworths, without telling Candle.

Candle found out about the new arrangement and contacted Woolworths to remind it of a restraint clause in its PSA terms that prevented it from directly engaging workers placed by Candle, for 12 months. Woolworths then ended its relationship with the project manager.

Candle also had a restraint in its contract with the project manager, barring her from contracting directly with a client, for six months.

Source – Shortlist