(October 4 – 13:15 ET) – A Quebec Superior Court has rejected a bid by Investors Group for an interim injunction against three of its former Montreal-based reps.
IG was seeking an injunction against the three reps, Philip Fainer, Michael Saracina and Eyal Amon, who have since joined Berkshire Investment Group, from soliciting previous clients and other IG reps to follow them to Berkshire. At least five other reps have followed the trio.
The judge denied the injunction saying that the court is satisfied that the reps that left the firm did so of their own free will, noting that several reps also left for firms other than Berkshire. It notes that one of the defendants did attempt to attract one rep, but he stayed with IG. It calls the rest of IG’s evidence “idle conjecture”, noting, “It seems to be founded on a rather paranoid view of the fact that Fainer, Saracina and Amon installed themselves in a coffee shop across the street from Investors on the day of their departure and met with several Investors’ sales representatives and other employees.”
IG is also seeking damages of more than $6.3 million against the reps for loss of reputation, loss of revenue and the cost of recruiting and training replacement reps. The court found insufficient evidence to support IG’s claim for an injunction, noting that “even if [the court] reached the conclusion that Investors’ rights are doubtful as opposed to non-existent, it would not have issued the requested injunction, in light of the absence of irreperable harm to Investors as reflected in its claim for damages.”
It also found that the balance of convenience favoured the reps.
IG and Berkshire are also involved in a larger suit in Ontario with IG alleging that Berkshire targeted and unlawfully raided 58 mangers and reps across Canada since January 1999.
-IE Staff