The publisher of an independent newspaper in Yorkshire has been threatened with legal action by Johnston Press in a row over a former member of its advertising staff.
Danny Lockwood, publisher of Dewsbury-based weekly The Press, received a solicitor’s letter after a former JP employee who left the company five months ago came in to help him out during a period of short-staffing.
The letter claimed the employee in question, Janet Black, may have been in breach of “post-termination restrictions” in her contract of employment.
It was sent by Glasgow-based law firm MacRoberts, acting on behalf of JP subsidiary the Yorkshire Weekly Newspapers Group which publishes the Dewsbury Reporter.
The letter stated: “It has come to our client’s attention that one of its former employees, Janet Black, is working for you.
“You may not be aware that she has post-termination restrictions in her contract of employment with our client. We understand she may have acted in breach of them.
“Please be advised that if Ms Black has breached, or does breach, any express or implied terms of her contract of employment with our client by being in employment with you or by contacting our client’s customers or clients, using information taken from our client’s records or databases or otherwise, and if you have induced her to breach these restrictions, our client will not hesitate to take further action which may include raising proceedings against you for interdict and/or damages.”
Danny told HTFP that Ms Black had come into his offices for one day to help out in a staff shortage crisis.
He said she had in fact previously worked for him before being herself “poached” by Johnston Press.
“They don’t seem to see the irony in having poached Jan from me in order to get to our customers,” he said.
Johnston Press has declined to comment further on the issue.
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Poached by Johnston Press? Well, it makes a change from being hung out to dry, I suppose.
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Sounds as though this lady was quite good at her job. Maybe JP should have kept her on if she’s that good at attracting advertising!
I know of another advertising person who has walked straight into another job with a neighbouring local paper, wonder if their new employer has received the same threatening letter?
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It’s just possible she left of her own accord, in which case such restrictions are commonplace – usually for six months, to let the contacts go “stale”. If she was made redundant, however, I’d guess that such post termination conditions would be legally unenforceable as being unreasonable. JP trying it on?
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As a Scot I recall when Johnston Press began as an admirable and small newspaper orgainsation.
Now it seems to be rotten to the core, treating its staff like muck and spoiling great newspapers like the Scotsman and the Yorkshire Post by removing local paging from its editions.
And, most of their weeklies are just advertising sheets.
Was there not an edict when newspapers were respected because space allocated to stories was far greater than the advertising content?
Now we have directors swamped in avarice, to line their pockets and their pay packets.
I started my career with the once great Beaverbrook owned Scottish Daily Express, itself destroyed by greedy bosses.
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Johnston Press is sadly becoming a cash thirsty laughing stock, trying every dirty trick in the book as it scrabbles around in the dirt for loose change. Hideous and heartless management must have reduced staff morale to that of the Gulag. Now they’re trying to lord it over the sensible folk who got out of their clutches when they could! I can’t express how glad I am to be off their payroll!
There ARE jobs out here in the big wide world (in similar positions to all those at newspapers) where you’ll be treated with more respect and actually trusted. Newspaper staff shouldn’t have to go on living this day-to-day paranoid nightmare just because Johnston management made a total hash of an industry they knew nothing about!
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JP does have a legal right to protect it’s business for a set period of time if someone leaves of their own accord or is fired. Being made redundant is a bit of a grey area.
It is a protective measure to stop people getting around the rule by getting themselves fired.
Also she would have been aware of these conditions as everyone who leaves JP (which I have myself though from an editorial role) has to have a meeting with HR where your contract if clarified for you and you are made aware of what you can and can’t do.
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God I hope JP take Danny to court!
He will relish it!
How pathetic!
If Johnston Press are this desperate they must be in very serious trouble
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House rules must have worked for a part of JP that went by the ‘rules’.
After three decades I handed in notice of my intention to leave an editorial/management role with a very successful JP business. A 30 second call from the Divisional Managing Director was all I received, asking if it was worth coming to speak to me. I worked three month notice without another question from senior management, HR or anyone apart from a three line letter thanking me for my service.
A few weeks after departure I established a new publishing venture in direct competition to some of their publications.
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I am waiting for the next Johnston Press bad news story. They are increasing in frequency, and I fear the closure of the Offaly Express announced in Ireland yesterday will be the first of many. I’m waiting, though, for someone to suggest an alternative business plan.
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@Up North yeah I had a HR team come to my office to talk to me (even though I was leaving to work for another group at the other end of the country they still told me how i could not use knowledge to undermine the paper I had worked for etc etc)
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Quite right JP. Protect your business and interests from anyone.
Why did Danny run to HTP? pathetic. A simple reply to the letter would have resolved the issue but no! Better to drum up support from all the X JP employees who stalk these types of articles with Glee.so they can comment about how bad JP are. pathetic!
I would urge JP to get rid of anyone who behaved like you lot, maybe that’s what happened.
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@noonetoknow Calm down dear, it’s only a report of an incident within the local press here in Yorkshire. Did you not read the entire article..carefully?
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ah @noonetoknow enjoy your role as JP management brown-noser – they’ll appreciate it greatly, until you have to go to save their jobs too.
Compare Mr Lockwood’s record as a publisher over the past few years with his JP counterparts and I think he has won the right to some self-publicity, even if embarassing the JP “suits” is the journalistic equivalent of shooting fish in a barrel
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