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Poor ole Toxic Tova O'Brien

Tova O'Brien goes to court in radio v TV employment tussle Former Political editor Tova O'Brien is heading to court over a restraint of trade clause. SUPPLIED Former Political editor Tova O'Brien is heading to court over a restraint of trade clause. This story was originally published on and is republished with permission. TV3's political editor had timed her resignation for a high stakes launch of the new Today FM talk radio this month – but the television channel's lawyers are fighting to delay her return to the airwaves. Broadcaster Tova O'Brien is taking her employer Discovery NZ to the Employment Relations Authority today in an eleventh hour legal bid to escape a three-month restraint of trade clause. At stake is her high-profile launch of a new MediaWorks radio breakfast show – the date hasn't been publicly confirmed, but is tipped for this month. That would steal the thunder from the return of TV3's new-look AM Show, which isn't expected back on air until February with its new line-up led by Melissa Chan-Green and Ryan Bridge. And at issue? Whether her new role as a radio host is materially similar to that of a political journalist, and whether the new radio show competes with the TV show. Advertise with Stuff Somewhat perversely, until last month they were essentially the same show. Newshub's political editor O'Brien appeared most weeks on the AM Show, broadcast on both TV3 and Magic Talk radio. That was a legacy of when MediaWorks owned both the TV and radio networks – but in September 2020 it sold the TV arm to US-based Discovery and 15 months later the divorce was finalised. stuff-logo stuff to watch logo The best on every screen and streaming platform, delivered to your inbox. Subscribe for free The new MediaWorks boss Cam Wallace announced in November last year that Magic Talk would be mothballed and replaced with Today FM under the leadership of talk radio veteran Dallas Gurney – and proceeded to announce a string of high profile hires from Discovery. MediaWorks announced O'Brien, Duncan Garner, Mark Richardson, Lloyd Burr and Wilhelmina Shrimpton would all host shows on the new radio station. So the employment hearing will serve one purpose beyond lining the lawyers' pockets: it will sharply distinguish between the previously conjoint Discovery and MediaWorks broadcast products, creating a new buzz around breakfast broadcast shows when they return this year. The likelihood of it setting any legal precedent is lower. Stuff logo Contractual restraint of trade clauses can be hard to uphold; often employers use them more to send a message to their own employees that they can't jump ship to a competitor, taking with them the brand, intellectual property and customers that a company had invested to build up. To that extent, Discovery may have an uphill battle convincing the Employment Relations Authority that O'Brien, in hosting a radio show, will be doing a similar job to that of a television political editor. But MediaWorks, too, faces its own challenges in the legal hearing. It must tread a fine line between communicating to potential radio listeners that it is a distinct new competitor in the media market, and assuring the Employment Relations Authority that it is not a competitor under the terms of O'Brien's contract. O'Brien has been with TV3 and its former owner MediaWorks since 2007, working in London as the broadcaster's Europe correspondent and most recently in Wellington as political editor. She made international headlines when she tore apart Advance NZ co-leader Jami-Lee Ross in a live interview about backing conspiracy theories in his failed 2020 election campaign. When she announced her resignation at the start of November last year, it was timed so she could finish up with Discovery before Christmas, serve out a month's leave, then complete her contract just in time for the launch of Today FM at the end of this month. That was until Discovery told her it would seek to enforce the three-month restraint clause in her contract. The Employment Relations Authority hearing comes after the failure of mediation. Advertise with Stuff In one respect, at least, O'Brien is following a time-honoured tradition in the restraint of trade battle. In 2016, Hilary Barry delayed her move from TV3 to TVNZ's Breakfast show, because of a restraint of trade clause in her contract with MediaWorks. But 15 years earlier in 2001, Mike McRoberts (her eventual co-host on TV3's evening news) had successfully won an Employment Relations Authority case, releasing him from a TVNZ restraint of trade clause that the publicly-owned broadcaster had tried to enforce to delay his move to TV3. This story was originally published on and is republished with permission. Newsroom

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