Bikini Body Training Company, founded by Kayla Itsines, seeks SA Supreme Court injunction against Queensland trainer Cass Olholm
This fitness industry rising star has launched her own online brand – but the company founded by SA superstar Kayla Itsines wants a court to shut her down.
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The company founded by Adelaide global fitness superstar Kayla Itsines has taken a trainer lauded as the industry’s “rising star” to court, seeking to stop her operating a rival brand.
The Bikini Body Training Company – originator of the highly-successful Sweat app – is seeking an SA Supreme Court injunction against Queensland crossfit trainer Cass Olholm.
Ms Olholm has appeared regularly in Ms Itsines’ Facebook videos – including one in which the heavily pregnant duo prepared to work out together.
In court documents, Bikini Body Training Company asks Ms Olholm be stopped from operating the trainwithcass.com website and online training program.
The site, which is already online, says it will release its app on the Apple App Store on October 12.
It offers strength, conditioning and high-intensity training online for $21.99 a month or $139.99 a year.
Sweat, which Ms Itsines sold to US company IFit in 2021 for a reported $400 million, offers memberships for $19.99 a month or $119.94 a year.
In court on Tuesday, Nicholas Swan, for Bikini Body, said Ms Olholm’s contract with his client ended in February and contained a 12-month non-complete clause.
He said her imminent launch date and social media advertising breached that clause and put his client at risk of losing business to “an alternative option” for training.
“This is not just somebody who has left a business after mowing some lawns and taken up a job with a competitor,” he said.
“This is a situation where online presence is a crucial part … we have two parties that came together to present a particular persona online associated with a particular type of product.
“There is, on both sides, an association between the personality and the product … my client can’t stop this lady using her persona forever (but) 12 months is reasonable.”
Based in Cairns, Queensland, Ms Olholm is the owner and co-founder of The Ground crossfit facility and currently has 361,000 Instagram followers.
She joined Sweat in December 2020 – at which time her follower count was 129,000 – and dubbed her selection “surreal and crazy”.
Ms Olholm featured on the cover of Women’s Health magazine in February 2022 and was referred to, in the accompanying article, as “the rising star” of Sweat.
Despite her departure, she continues to feature on Sweat and her content appeared on Ms Itsines’ Facebook account throughout 2022.
In one video, Ms Itsines tries Ms Olholm’s training program, during which she jokingly “yells” at her over the phone due to its high intensity.
Prior to selling Sweat, Ms Itsines had been to court to protect the brand’s integrity.
In 2015, she and then-fiancee Tobias Pearce sued Leanne “Freelee the Banana Girl” Ratcliffe and Harley “Durianrider” Johnstone for defamation over their YouTube content.
Ms Itsines wanted videos that she asserted disparaged her brand removed – the case settled out of court, with Ms Ratcliffe and Mr Johnstone agreeing to her demand.
In court on Tuesday, Mr Swan asked Ms Olholm be prevented from launching her business any time prior to March 1, 2024.
He said the period over summer and Christmas was “peak time” for his client, and that Ms Olholm’s readiness to launch showed her disregard for the non-complete clause.
“In her own affidavits to this court, Ms Olholm says she has spent some $580,000 getting this new business ready, that it’s already been advertised and that she’s getting responses,” he said.
“We say her affidavit effectively acknowledges that she has been, for some time now, acting contrary to the restraint provisions.
“She has been getting ready for this business and has spent a lot of time and money on it.”
Thomas McFarlane, for Ms Olholm, said his client would argue the non-compete clause expired after six months, not 12, hence her readiness to launch.
“This restraint is little more than a restraint on mere competition – there’s no allegation of misuse of or even access to confidential information, client lists or data,” he said.
“My client’s evidence is that she doesn’t even know, for the most part, who is subscribed to the Sweat app.”
Judge Graham Dart asked if there was any potential the matter could be settled without a hearing.
“This product is an app … if I’m going to get bikini-ready for summer, which I probably need to do, I do it at home on my own and online through this,” he said.
“If this app was launching in about 22 weeks’ time, we wouldn’t be here … if this was March 1, there would be no one here seeking an injunction.
“I’m just trying to stop the parties spending a lot of money when, from March next year, Ms Olholm can do this anyway – but if people want to spend money on lawyers, that’s fine.”
Mr Swan and Mr McFarlane said they would be ready to argue their cases in full next week, and Judge Dart set the matter down for hearing.
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Originally published as Bikini Body Training Company, founded by Kayla Itsines, seeks SA Supreme Court injunction against Queensland trainer Cass Olholm
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