Contracts of employment: Wrongful dismissal prevents reliance on "restraint of trade" clause

Where an employee is wrongfully dismissed, any outstanding contractual obligations of the injured employee are extinguished upon the ending of the employment contract, holds the High Court in Briggs v Oates. Thus, the dismissal of a "salaried partner", in breach of a five-year fixed-term employment contract, meant that the ex-employer was unable to enforce a restraint of trade clause contained in that contract.