Can I Do Anything If Someone Poaches My Customers?

[helpisrequired]

I was asked if I would allow someone to come and do a week's observation in our language school last week to give her some experience of seeing a school on action before she decided to go teach herself. I said yes.

I've since found that the person has taken two of our students that were in the classes she observed and is giving them private lessons. As a result we have lost their business.

I fear there may be nothing we can do, and that this may just be at most immoral. Our directors want to threaten legal action. Is there anything that can be done?

[Buenchico]

I can't see that anything can be done. Even when an employee leaves a company it can be very hard to enforce a contractual term which forbids them to poach customers from their former employer, as many such contracts have been deemed invalid by the courts.

While the lady was maybe a little 'cheeky' in her methods, it's not really that much different to one language school employing people to hand out their flyers to the students of other language schools as they enter or leave their places of learning, which happens all the time in Brighton!

[Obiter]

I have never associated Brighton with places of learning (at least not in the academic sense of the word).

[Buenchico]

(With apologies to Helpisrequired):

Obiter:
Brighton probably has more language schools than any other city in the world. It's also got TWO universities!

[Obiter]

When you say universities, do you mean ex polytechnics? There is a difference.

[DTCwordfan]

Take it as a learning lesson, hir - do you have your course materials copyrighted, especially if you have prepared your own material? If you do, then you would have a case on that basis, if you don't there's some food for thought.............

[Buenchico]

(Again with apologies to Helpisrequired):

The University of Sussex was never a polytechnic and is ranked within the top fifteen universities in the UK and within the top 40 in Europe.

Many former polytechnics (such as the University of Brighton) are probably far better attuned to the needs of their students than some Oxbridge colleges are.

[helpisrequired]

Thanks all
Buenchico, I'm not sure it is the same as handing out flyers to students of other schools. She actually solicited business from our students while she was still in our school. As far as I'm aware this is protection to stop employees from doing this, but I'm not sure if that extends to those on work experience.

[EDDIE51]

Sorry, but I don't think there is anything you can do, she was not an employee. Just put it down to experience.