Two Australian Fitness Influencers Are Sweating It out in Court — Kayla Itsines Lawsuit Explained

Oct. 12 2023, Updated 4:16 p.m. ET

The Gist:

• Australian fitness influencers Kayla Itsines and Cass Olholm prior to now worked in combination at Kayla's fitness company
• Cass left in February 2023 and is attempting to release her personal fitness app eight months later.
• This violates a non-compete clause Cass signed so Kayla is now suing her.
• Kayla misplaced and didn't get an injunction.

According to 9 News Australia, the lawsuit between health influencers Kayla Itsines and Cass Olholm has been dubbed the Bikini Body Legal Battle and it is a high profile case. Once upon a time they had been friends-turned-coworkers when Cass joined The Bikini Body Training Company, Kayla's thriving fitness company. The jewel in their crown is the health app Sweat, of which Cass was once an teacher.

When she left the company in February 2023 Cass was once legally not able to create a an identical industry for 12 months, in keeping with a freelance she signed with Sweat. Eight months later, Cass was set to launch her personal competing app in October 2023 which would in fact violate her non-compete clause and perhaps price Kayla a great deal of cash. Kayla's next move was once to take Cass to court docket in pursuit of an injunction. Here's what we all know about the lawsuit.

What's the deal with Kayla Itsines's lawsuit?

An attorney who goes through @legallybrunettenz on TikTok, actual title Romina, broke down the legal drama between Kayla and Cass in a series of videos. It all began in 2020 when Cass joined Kayla's company and started making health videos for her Sweat app. This concerned a "12 month restraint of trade clause," which prohibited Cass from "carrying out any acts that would be seen as competition with or competing with Kayla's business for a period of 12 months."

When Cass left in February 2023, she was once legally obligated to refrain from launching her fitness app until March 2024, but that did not happen. Kayla sues Cass for breach of contract and asks she honor their settlement. In the lawsuit, Kayla claims Cass is "utilizing the goodwill she generated while working for Kayla's company." per Romina.

Cass Olholm stated she and Kayla Itsines agreed on a six month non-compete settlement.

In response to Kayla's lawsuit, Cass stated the restraint of trade period wasn't actually 12 months. Apparently they agreed upon six months. If this is true, then Cass launching an app in October could be completely legal. Furthermore, Cass does not attribute her success to Kayla and tthe Sweat app but rather to at all times, money, and energy she put into the company. The goodwill Cass has completed came with the abilities and qualifications she earned in the business.

Cass also identified that the aforementioned laborious work shouldn't be "lumped together into the two to three year period she worked at Sweat." Also, her "accreditations and qualifications wouldn't go away just because she worked at Sweat." Romina then theorized what Cass's legal professional used to be going to mention which is, "enforcing the restrain of trade is enforcing a restriction on all her skills and all her experience she's gained over the duration of her career."

It looks like Australian's Supreme Court agreed with Cass's attorney as Kayla was once denied the injunction by means of Judge Jack Costello, reported news.com.au. "The applicant (Bikini Body) has not made out a prima facie case that it has a legitimate commercial interest to protect, or one that requires the imposition of a restraint," said Judge Costello. He went on to say 12 months is an unreasonable time to wait.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pbXSramam6Ses7p6wqikaKhfoK66uMBmoK2rmaOytHnLmq6srZmp