Rising fitspo star Cass Olholm scores court win over Kayla Itsines-founded Sweat app
The Supreme Court has given the green light for the one-time Sweat contractor to go ahead with her plans to launch a rival app.
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Fitspo’s rising star has out-muscled industry juggernaut Sweat in court and can launch its rival app immediately – but the company founded by SA’s Kayla Itsines says it will take its case to trial.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court dismissed an injunction bid by Sweat’s owners, the Bikini Body Training Company, to block Cass Olholm from running a rival business.
In his ruling, Judge Jack Costello said Bikini Body had failed to prove its commercial interests deserved protection from Ms Olholm’s start-up.
He further ruled it had failed to prove holding Ms Olholm, a former Sweat contractor, to a 12-month non-compete clause was reasonable, or that it deserved financial compensation.
Judge Costello’s decision means Ms Olholm’s $580,000 app can launch on Thursday, as originally scheduled, and compete immediately with Sweat.
It also means Bikini Body must cover Ms Olholm’s legal costs, estimated to be in the order of several thousand dollars.
Bikini Bodies filed an injunction seeking to have Ms Olholm blocked from launching trainwithcass.com as a competitor to its Sweat app.
It asserted the $65 million app could lose as much as $1 million in business to Ms Olholm, whose three-year contract with Sweat ended in February.
It further asserted her online persona had been cultivated through Sweat – where she remains a featured trainer – and that her non-compete clause did not expire until March.
Ms Olholm, however, asserted that clause ran out in August and that Bikini Bodies’ legal bid was “ridiculous, hopelessly broad” and “unreasonable”.
She said Sweat was not “unique” in online fitness and deserved no protection from competitors, arguing she built her personal “brand” long before joining the app.
On Thursday, Judge Costello said granting an injunction against Ms Olholm was not warranted.
“The applicant (Bikini Body) has not established a prima facie case that it has a large commercial interest to be protected or which requires the imposition of a restraint,” he said.
“It has not made out that the restraint period of 12 months is reasonable, nor that a further period of restraint is required to break the connection between its subscribers and Ms Olholm.”
Thomas McFarlane, for Ms Olholm, asked that his client be awarded her legal costs.
Nick Swan, for Bikini Body, said he could not oppose that – but also said the case was not over.
“It’s now a question of the ongoing conduct of these proceedings and, obviously, it’s an urgent matter from our point of view that a trial date be set,” he said.
Judge Costello awarded costs to Ms Olholm and adjourned the case for two weeks to discuss trial preparations.
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