Ten and Seven head to court after programmer John Stephens elects to stay with former employer

TenNetwork Ten’s latest hire of John Stephens has erupted in a legal battle with the Seven Network after the veteran programmer decided to stay with his former employer.

Stephens had signed a contract with Ten to join the network as director of scheduling and acquisitions earlier this month, however he then decided to stay with the Seven Network where he has worked since 2003.

As a result Ten started legal action against Seven, accusing the rival network of inducing him to breach his new contract with them.

An interim injunction was obtained by Ten on Friday preventing Seven from inducing Stephens to breach the contract. However that injunction was not extended by Justice Paul Brereton in the NSW Supreme Court yesterday and Ten was ordered to pay Seven’s costs, as Stephens was granted permission to return to his work at Seven.

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