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Inducing Breach of Contract

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The House of Lords has handed down judgment in three conjoined appeals (one of which was the Michael Douglas v Hello case), dealing with the tort of inducing a breach of contract. This tort is often invoked in restrictive covenant / confidential information cases by old employers in order to impose liability onto the new employer (as well as the departing emplpoyee).

The House of Lords has held that it is an essential prerequisite for establishing the tort of inducing a breach of contract that the alleged wrongdoer specifically intended to interfere with the contract.

The tort is thus one of deliberately, not just carelessly or negligently, inducing such a breach.

Mainstream Properties Ltd v Young

[Thanks to www.emplaw.co.ukA for giving me permission to adopt their summary of this case.]

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