Daniels back on ZM/FM

Press, 16 August 1988, Page 1

Daniels back on ZM/FM

By

DAVID CORBOY

The former team of James Daniels and Ken Ellis will be back on air on the ZM/FM breakfast programme today as the result of the refusal of Mr Justice Hardie Boys in the High Court yesterday to grant an injunction to stop Daniels from working for that station until his contract with C.93FM expired on March 31, 1989. The application for the injunction was heard last Thursday and Friday and did not conclude until about 9 p.m. on Friday when his Honour reserved his decision.

The oral judgment took one and a half hours to deliver and neither Daniels nor Ellis was present to hear the outcome.

Although the injunction was not granted Canterbury FM Broadcasting, Ltd, which runs C.93FM, has the right to sue for breach of contract if Daniels works for the rival FM station but the Broadcasting Corporation has agreed to meet any claim for damages. Mr Mike Ring and Ms Elizabeth Minogue, both of Auckland, appeared for Canterbury Broadcasting which applied for the injunction and Mr Willie Young and Ms Maria Dew for Daniels, who claimed that his resignation was accepted so that he was not in breach of his contract.

Mr Justice Hardie Boys held that the resignation of Daniels was not accepted but said that because of the strained relationship which had arisen it would be impos sible for him to work on the breakfast show at C.93FM. He ruled that the over-all effect of the contract between Daniels and C.93FM was that it had a restraint of trade clause because there was no provision for Daniels to give notice during the period of the fixed term contract.

Once again, as had been in previous similar contracts, inadequate drafting had been the base of the problem and he could not accept that the contract was enforceable and he ruled in Daniels’ favour on a technicality, said his Honour. He gave judgment and costs for Daniels.