It is understood that O’Reilly resigned as a director of Pulse Marketing Services and gave notice of termination of his employment as chief executive on January 30, following a written request from Pulse through its lawyers for information about the running of the business.
Pulse obtained a High Court order on February 2 against O’Reilly and Eyegen, trading as Brando, restraining them from contacting customers, suppliers, contractors and employees of Pulse and from using any information relating to the company.
The injunction was lifted on Friday, but an order was made for O’Reilly to return any company property or files to Pulse. Justice Finlay Geoghegan is expected to explain her decision later this week.
The dispute has its roots in the establishment last September of Brando, an online advertising agency. O’Reilly and Brendan O’Flaherty, Pulse’s former creative director, were founding shareholders, along with Damian Ryan, a founder of Ican, and Darren McGrath, the former internet commercial manager of BT Ireland. The four held equal interests.
Pulse alleged that O’Reilly and O’Flaherty had promoted Brando in competition against Pulse. In particular it has cited conflicts with certain Pulse clients, RaboBank, Nestlé, Ri Ra and The Money Show. This allegation has been rejected by Brando.
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The fledgling company told The Sunday Times that O’Reilly is no longer a director or shareholder of Brando.
O’Reilly refused to comment on the allegations. Pulse said it was continuing to pursue legal action against him.