Usually, employment disputes will be conducted in the employment tribunals. However, there are occasions when employment disputes will need to be litigated in the High Court and this is normally due to these disputes being serious, high-value and often reputation-critical matters
When do employment disputes go to the High Court?
Dealing with employment disputes in the High Court is very different to dealing with cases in the employment tribunal as costs can often be much higher and the “winning party” is usually able to recover a significant proportion of their costs from the “losing party”.
Cases normally proceed to the High Court because they require the authority and remedies only available only in the High Court.
These cases can include:
- Breach of contract claims – breach of contract claims arise where one party fails to comply with the terms of an employment agreement. These disputes often involve notice provisions, bonus entitlements, restrictive covenants, or termination terms where the sums involved are significant
- Wrongful dismissal -wrongful dismissal concerns termination in breach of contract, most commonly involving failure to provide proper notice or payment in lieu. Unlike unfair dismissal claims, it is a contractual claim and is frequently brought in the High Court when damages exceed tribunal limits or involve senior executives
- Enforcement of restrictive covenants – employers may seek to enforce post-termination restrictions to protect legitimate business interests such as client relationships, confidential information, and workforce stability. The High Court determines whether restrictions are reasonable and enforceable especially when the employer is seeking some form of injunctive relief
- Confidentiality and trade secret disputes – these claims arise where confidential information, proprietary data, or trade secrets are misused or unlawfully disclosed. The High Court can grant urgent relief to prevent further dissemination and order delivery up or destruction of sensitive material. Such cases often involve forensic evidence and complex technical issues
- Injunction applications – injunctions are commonly used to prevent competitive activity, misuse of confidential information, or breaches of fiduciary duty. Applications are often urgent and require clear evidence of risk and harm
- Partnership and shareholder disputes with employment elements – where employment relationships overlap with partnership or shareholder arrangements, disputes can escalate into High Court litigation. These matters often involve removal, profit entitlement, breach of fiduciary duties, or breakdown of business relationships. They are typically high-value and strategically sensitive
- Director and fiduciary duty claims – directors owe statutory and fiduciary duties to their companies. Claims may arise from alleged conflicts of interest, misuse of corporate opportunities, or acting contrary to the company’s best interests. These disputes are serious, reputation-sensitive, and often involve complex corporate and employment law issues.
Injunctive relief
Employment related High Court litigation can often involve considering whether injunctive relief is necessary.
This tends to be most common where a former employee breaches, or threatens to breach, the post-termination obligations in their contract of employment, this can carry a risk of substantial damage being caused to your business. Former employees may be soliciting your customers, dealing with your clients, misusing confidential information and/or looking to poach key employees within your workforce. Provided there are post termination restrictions in the contract of employment, you can apply to court for injunctive relief seeking a former employee from joining a competitor and/or soliciting/dealing with customers and/or poaching key employees of the workforce.
It is important to note that restrictive covenants are not automatically enforceable. The High Court starts from the principle that contractual terms which restrict an individual’s ability to work are void unless they go no further than reasonably necessary to protect legitimate business interests. The court therefore conducts a careful and structured assessment before granting enforcement where it will consider:
- Is there a legitimate business interest to protect
- Is the wording of the restrictive covenant reasonable
- Is there evidence of a breach or a risk of a breach
- Is an injunction proportionate and fair when considering all of the parties’ interests.
In the event there is no restrictive covenants, it may still possible to seek a springboard injunction. A springboard injunction is a specialist form of relief designed to prevent a former employee from benefiting from an unfair competitive advantage gained through unlawful conduct. Unlike a standard restrictive covenant injunction, a springboard injunction does not depend on the existence of an express post-termination restriction. Instead, it focuses on neutralising the advantage obtained through wrongdoing — such as misuse of confidential information or coordinated breaches of duty.
How we can help
Our commercial litigation team have considerable experience of employment related High Court litigation and injunctive relief.
By engaging the team at an early stage (which is essential in these types of disputes), they can:
- Undertake an early risk assessment
- Advise on enforceability of any restrictive covenants and/or springboard injunctions
- Assess the evidence of any breach and what further evidence may be required
- Instruct specialist barristers, IT and forensic accountants as may be required
- Engage in pre-litigation correspondence with the former employee
- Advise on litigation options and general strategy
- Provide representation in High Court litigation.
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