Court of Appeal grants injunction against Lois Young
The Court of Appeal this morning set aside an earlier ruling by Justice John Muria and granted an injunction to prevent attorney Lois Young from representing Christine Perriott, a former Telemedia employee. Perriott was released from the company last year, rehired and then subsequently resigned. The request for injunction by Telemedia was first heard last July when attorneys for the telephone company argued that because Young previously acted for seventeen years on behalf of the company, she had confidential information and representing Perriott would be a breach of confidentiality. Last July, Justice Muria refused the interim injunction but in today’s sitting Justices Manuel Sosa, Boyd Carey and Dennis Morrison granted Telemedia’s application and Perriott, for the time being, will have to get another attorney. Attorney for Telemedia, Andrew Marshalleck, explains.
Andrew Marshalleck, Attorney, Telemedia
“B.T.L. had sought an injunction restraining Miss Lois Young from acting on behalf of Christine Perriott. The basis of the application was that Miss Young over the course of acting for B.T.L. for some seventeen plus years had gained confidential information in the course of her acting. And there was a real rift that this would have been used to act against B.T.L. in Miss Perriott’s favor. Mister Justice Muria had refused the injunction. The court of appeal has now set aside Judge Muria’s order and has itself granted that injunction.”
Fred Lumor, Attorney for Lois Young
“When a party to litigation goes before the court it sets out its statement of claim and when you are asking the court for an injunction you tell the court the grounds on which you are asking for that injunction. In this case the case they made out before justice Muria and the grounds for which they asked Lois Young to be restrained, is that she has formally advised B.T.L. on severance pay. When we came to the court of appeal, they said there were other matters in other papers they filed, which the judge ought to have taken into consideration but they did not make it part of their case. And they were lucky the court accepted their argument and ruled in their favor.”
Andrew Marshalleck
“The claim as to whether or not there is a sufficient basis for a permanent injunction still needs to be argued and that case will likely go back to Judge Muria. But in the interim while that case is pending, this interlocking junction granted by the court of appeal will remain in place so that Miss Young is prohibited from acting for Christine Perriott in the interim.”
Telemedia was also awarded full costs of court despite protests by attorney for Lois Young.
