‘Mr Ambitious’ vs ‘Caesar’ ruling leaves Warburton waiting until 2012 for Ten start
James Warburton will not be allowed to take the helm at Network Ten until next year, a judge has ruled.
Warburton resigned from Seven in March following the sacking of Ten boss Grant Blackley. His original start date was announced as this July, but Seven went to court arguing that this would breach Warburton’s contractual commitments.
In today’s ruling supreme court judge Michael Pembroke said that Warburton would have to wait it out until Janaury 1 – but not until October next year which Seven had argued.
Much of the case hinged on conversations between Warburton and Seven boss David Leckie, who called him “Mr Ambitious”, the court had heard.
Although he said that he found Warburton to be a reliable witness, Justice Pembroke did not agree that Seven boss David Leckie’s promise to let Warburton go with “no dramas” amounted to a repudiation of his contract.
He said in the ruling:
“Mr Leckie was prone to generalise and overstate…
“His conversation was characterised by bonhomie, not precision of legal expression. His words were loose and ambiguous. His tone was genial.
“Mr Warburton, for his part, well understood Mr Leckie’s business style, personality and foibles…
“It is implausible that Mr Warburton could have understood Mr Leckie’s words to have the legal effect for which he contends. I do not think that he did. No reasonable person in his position would have done so.”
The court case drew a picture of Warburton keen to take the top job at Seven with Leckie in no hurry to move aside for him. The judge wrote: “Mr Warburton is a highly skilled and talented television executive. At the Seven Network, he was the natural successor to David Leckie as chief executive officer. Like Caesar however, Mr Leckie was not ready to go.”
In ruling on the length of time it is reasonable to keep Warburton out of the market, the judge said:
“I have reached the view that Mr Warburton should be sidelined for the balance of 2011 but no longer. During that period, Seven can be expected to negotiate and finalise, and Mr Warburton will have no knowledge of, Seven’s terms of trade for calendar year 2012 for four of the major media buying groups and its terms of trade for the financial year 2011/12 for Group M. What is more, in Mr Warburton’s absence, Seven can be expected to revise and renew its 2012 terms of trade for most of its major direct clients.”
Justice Pembroke added: “The customers are Seven’s not Mr Warburton’s. They will go wherever they receive the best terms. This is not the sort of industry where senior executives like Mr Warburton carry their employer’s customers in their back pocket. ”
He predicted the same thing about Warburton’s former colleagues: “As to staff, the evidence did not support any conclusion that staff members would necessarily follow Mr Warburton to Network Ten or elsewhere because of their respect for his personality or ability and the connection which they may have formed with him at Seven. The evidence satisfied me that Seven’s staff members will make up their own minds by reference to what is best for them.
The judge concluded:
“The unfortunate but necessary consequence of my orders is that he will be sidelined for the whole of the balance of calendar year 2011. If he becomes the chief executive officer of Network Ten from 1 January 2012, Mr Warburton may well represent a competitive threat to Seven, but this will not realistically be because of his retention of confidential information acquired by him at Seven prior to 2 March 2011, but because of his skill, talent, personality and past successful record in the industry.
He also ruled that Seven will be able to recover 70% of its costs from Warburton.
Tim Burrowes founded Mumbrella in 2008. He worked on Mumbrella until 2021. At various points he was editor, content director and editor-at-large.
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I’d say his lordship got this pretty much spot on with his summary and ruling. It does cast some doubt over Warburton’s and by extension Murdoch’s judgement and their hasty decisions. No doubt by this time next year it will all be forgotten.
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anyone able to ballpark Ch 7 legal bill damage?… cant be cheap…!
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Gardening Leave, time to plant Autumn, Winter, Spring and Summer flowers and see then grow!!! then appear on Tens NYE coverage, after midnight!!
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