Application by Harcourts Franchise Dismissed

The High Court of the Eastern Cape has recently dismissed with costs an application brought against St Francis Bay estate agent Lynette Havenga and her employer, the new Chas Everitt International franchise for St Francis Bay, Jeffreys Bay and Humansdorp.
 
The application was brought by Peter Cooper Estates CC (trading as Harcourts Oyster). Peter Cooper Estates CC was the former Chas Everitt International Franchisee for the abovementioned territories and was also Lynette Havenga’s former employer.
 
In the application launched by Peter Cooper Estates, it was alleged that Havenga had taken confidential information about certain property listings and mandates with her when she left Peter Cooper Estates’ employ in March, and that she had unlawfully used this information on the Internet and in other ways to “springboard” the new Chas Everitt International franchise into the local market.

Havenga and Chas Everitt defended the application brought by Peter Cooper Estates CC on the basis that it had no merit.
 
The new Chas Everitt International franchise in the area is owned by Brendon Lahana, who converted his own top-performing local agency, Bay Estates, to the Chas Everitt brand in October last year, after the Chas Everitt International Property group had terminated its franchise agreement with Peter Cooper Estates CC.
 
After hearing arguments from both legal teams the Eastern Cape High Court found per Brooks AJ that:
 
*The applicant had established no clear right to the preservation of confidentiality with regard to the information in question;
 
*The applicant had not succeeded in demonstrating that any damage had been done to his business, or that any spring boarding had taken place.
 
*The application was accordingly dismissed with costs.
 
For a copy of the full Ruling, CLICK HERE