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A hair salon entangled in a court row was banned yesterday from cutting the hair of clients it poached from one of Hong Kong's top salons.

The injunction was served after the Court of First Instance heard how the new salon poached staff and lured more than 90 per cent of regular clients from the Hair By M2K salon in Tsim Sha Tsui's Marco Polo Hotel.

Deputy Judge David Gill found that seven former hair stylists and a manager had participated in a campaign instigated by Rainbow Concept Ltd to lure clientele and profits from Hair By M2K.

Deputy Judge Gill said it was 'hard to imagine' the role played by Rainbow Concept, which established the rival salon Il Colpo II at Harbour City - not more than 10 metres from M2K.

He said its actions were 'a gross and obvious disregard for the rights of a competitor in its pursuit of staff and customers for financial advantage'.

He also criticised the employees who left M2K 'in a mass exodus' over a period of days.

'I find it hard to perceive in a body of employees a more blatant disregard for the contractual obligations of fidelity owed by them individually and collectively to their employer and for the consequences of their breaching those obligations,' Deputy Judge Gill said.

'This was, as I find, an extraordinary way to behave towards their employer of many years who . . . had trained them from scratch to becoming experts in their field.'

Deputy Judge Gill ordered injunctions against hairdressers Danny Kung Wai-for, Vince Pang Ka-ho, Eddie Lai Yi-tik, Oliver Chan Yiu-ki, Mike Leung Chi-sing, Tony Yeung Lok-yin and Kenny Wong Yick-fai from cutting hair of clients they had poached from M2K, further soliciting M2K customers and operating within 1.2km of the Marco Polo Hotel salon.

He made a similar order against former M2K assistant manager Cora Lau Ching-san, a shareholder in parent company Rainbow Concept.

Deputy Judge Gill said he was satisfied Ms Lau had led a 'well-laid plan' on behalf of Il Colpo II to poach staff from M2K.

Complaints raised by the defendants to justify their actions were dismissed by the judge.

The court heard M2K, owned by Australian Murray Edward Malski, was one of 70 A-grade salons operating out of a total of 3,000 salons in Hong Kong.

When the seven stylists left in November and December last year, they poached most of the regular clients who provided 85 per cent of the salon's income. Only 60 out of 1,500 regular customers remained loyal to M2K. With its rival salon held liable for various breach-of-contract infringements, damages will be assessed later.



Court thwarts hair salon's designs on rival's clients