Spec Savers wins high court battle

The Health Professions Council, together with one of its divisions, the Professional Board of Optometry, conducted a raid on the store in Port Elizabeth and 20 other stores around the country in response to a complaint by a competitor that Spec Savers was in breach of various ethical rules prohibiting price advertising and advertising something for free on a quid pro quo basis, such as offering a free pair of prescription sunglasses with every purchase of prescription lenses.

The search was suspended after an interim high court order was obtained by Spec Savers Port Elizabeth's attorney, Gerald Friedman. The high court ruled on 19 December that the search was unlawful and ordered the return of all documents seized. The judge said that the registrar of the HPC and the chairman of the Professional Board of Optometry had been wrong to issue a warrant for the raid based on a flimsy complaint. He described the raids as a gross violation of Spec Savers' rights as the board was already in possession of the relevant information obtained on the stength of the warrant that they issued, such as the names of the franchise stores.

According to Friedman, Spec Savers and the board are opposed on a number of issues, including Spec Savers' franchise model and branding of stores instead of optometrists trading under their own names. Regarding price advertising, Friedman states Spec Savers' view that it is in the public interest for them to do so.

Spec Savers chairman, Bryan Dowley, has indicated that further litigation is being considered to have the seized documents from the remaining 20 stores returned.