01/10/2018 Just Group sues to halt CFO Nicole Peck defection to Cotton On

Just Group sues to halt CFO Nicole Peck defection to Cotton On

By BEN BUTLER, BUSINESS REPORTER 12:00AM JULY 7, 2016 • H COMMENTS

Solomon Lew’s Just Group has launched legal action in a bid to stymie the defection of chief financial officer Nicole Peck to retail rival Cotton On.

In a lawsuit filed with the Victorian Supreme Court, Just accuses Ms Peck of breach of contract, including a confidentiality clause, and seeks to prevent her taking up the Cotton On job for two years.

Ms Peck lasted less than five months as head of Just, a subsidiary of Mr Lew’s listed Premier Investments that controls retail brands such as womenswear chain Dotti, pyjama group Peter Alexander and stationer . She quit in May.

Just also sought an order forbidding her being represented by law firm Ashurst, which has in the past acted for Cotton On, because of a “a real and sensible risk of inadvertent disclosure of commercially sensitive and confidential information by Ashurst to Cotton On”.

The company also raised the possibility Cotton On might be paying Ms Peck’s legal costs.

However, in a judgment on Friday, judge Andrew Keogh found Ashurst does not currently act for Cotton On.

In a rebuke to Just, Justice Keogh said a subpoena issued by the company seeking information about the case from Ashurst “clearly represents a fishing expedition, and has no legitimate identifiable forensic purpose”.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/just-group-sues-to-halt-cfo-nicole-peck-defection-to-cotton-on/news-story/cd99edf8a38d5e9c774a115950a… 1/2 01/10/2018 Just Group sues to halt CFO Nicole Peck defection to Cotton On “There is no evidence to establish the probability that Ashurst will in future act for Cotton On, or that any confidential information obtained by Ashurst in the conduct of the current proceeding will be directly relevant to a future retainer with Cotton On,” he said.

The case is due to go to trial on August 2.

Just is represented by top law firm Arnold Bloch Leibler, whose managing partner Henry Lanzer also sits on the Premier Investments board alongside luminaries including trucking magnate .

Cotton On is privately owned by Geelong’s Austin and Hardwick families.

According to her LinkedIn profile, Ms Peck came to Just after a two-year stint as CFO of Barwon Health, which runs hospitals in Geelong and health services on the Victorian surf coast. Before that, she was CFO of discount department store Target, part of the Wesfarmers conglomerate that also owns Coles.

BEN BUTLER, BUSINESS REPORTER Business reporter Ben Butler has covered everything from tractors to fashion to corporate collapses. He has previously worked for the and as a senior business reporter with and Morning... Read more

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/just-group-sues-to-halt-cfo-nicole-peck-defection-to-cotton-on/news-story/cd99edf8a38d5e9c774a115950a… 2/2