Violation of the non-competition clause no longer entitles the employee to benefit from the financial compensation of this clause, even after the violation has ceased.
- ptruche
- Feb 2, 2024
- 2 min read
PBy a decision rendered on January 24, 2024 (n°22-20.926), the Court of Cassation ruled that an employee who disregarded, even over a limited period, his non-competition clause could not claim payment of the related financial compensation. to this clause.
An employee, employed as a technical-commercial executive, submits his resignation on January 11, 2018.
Despite the activation of his 24-month non-competition clause, he joins a competing company on February 5, 2018. , for a period from March 1, 2018 to August 31, 2018. The employer then refers the matter to the industrial tribunal.
Claiming the violation of the non-competition clause, he requests the restitution of the sums already paid as well as the order of the latter to cease his new activity.
The industrial tribunal judges, initially, that the employee is not guilty of any breach.
This decision was, however, overturned by the Douai Court of Appeal.
Noting that the employee's competitive activity had only lasted 6 months, it deduced that the non-competition obligation should still apply on the basis of a period of 18 months. Which, by extension, led him to consider that the employer had to pay the employee a balance of non-competition compensation
The employer then filed a cassation appeal, considering that the violation of the non-competition clause had been established and thus justified the non-payment of the financial compensation for the non-competition clause, in addition to the request for reimbursement of the compensation already paid in this respect.
The High Court follows the employer's argument by ruling that "the violation of the non-competition clause no longer allows the employee to claim the benefit of the financial compensation of this clause even after the cessation of its violation".
The employee cannot therefore request payment of his non-competition compensation while having carried out an activity competing with that of his former employer by relying on the limited duration of this professional activity.
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