In Zupnik v. All Florida Paper, Inc., No. 3DO8-1371, 2008 WL 5412090 (Fla. 3rd D.C.A. Dec. 31, 2008), the Florida Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit reversed a trial court’s entry of a temporary injunction against Stewart Zupnik and Dade Paper & Bag Company. The Court’s reasoning was that the restrictive covenants in question had expired and All Florida Paper did not provide evidence of misappropriation. The facts of the case are as follows:

Zupnik is a sales representative with experience selling paper and janitorial products to customers in the food industry. On March 14, 2004, Zupnik signed an Agreement with All Florida that stated that the "employment shall be for a term of two years." The Agreement gave Zupnik the option to remain with All Florida as an at-will employee if he so elected within 72 hours of the expiration of the two-year term. The Agreement also contained a one-year non-compete and five-year non-disclosure of confidential information provisions, both of which were triggered post-employment by the termination of the term of employment.

After the expiration of the two-year term, Zupnik formed his own company – South Florida Paper Products – and conducted negotiations with Dade Paper & Bag Company as a potential supplier. All Florida subsequently alleged that Zupnik shared confidential information with Dade Paper in a meeting at a local restaurant. At an evidentiary hearing, the only evidence that All Florida offered of such a disclosure was testimony from a private investigator that: (1) Zupnik appeared to give Dade Paper operations manager William Baltzell a folder; and (2) Zupnik and Baltzell had All Florida invoices at the table..

The trial court enforced the non-compete provision and also found that Zupnik had shared trade secrets and confidential information with Dade Paper. The Third Circuit Court of Appeals reversed, holding that the non-compete and non-disclosure restrictions expired at the end of the two-year term. The expiration of the two-year term did not constitute a "termination" to trigger the post-employment restrictions. The Court of Appeals also overturned the trial court’s finding that Zupnik and Dade Paper misappropriated trade secrets and confidential information. The Court of Appeals held that All Florida did not show that its invoices and pricing information were confidential or that defendants misappropriated pricing information.