In Global Link Logistics, Inc. v. Briles, No. A08A1871, (Ga. App. Feb. 18, 2009), the Georgia Court of Appeals recently reiterated Georgia court’s requirements for non-compete and non-disclosure covenants. The case involved the departure of Jim Briles from Global Link Logistics to a competitor. Briles moved for a declaratory judgment stating that the restrictive covenants in his employment agreement – a non-compete provision and a non-disclosure of confidential information provision – were unenforceable. Global Link answered and moved to compel arbitration. The trial court found that the restrictive covenants were unenforceable.

The Court of Appeals upheld the trial court’s finding. It held that the non-disclosure provision was unenforceable because it purported to cover Briles’s “observations” and was therefore overly broad. The provision also lacked a time limit, as required by Georgia law. As far as we know, Georgia is unique among all 50 states in the latter requirement. 

The Court of Appeals held that the non-compete provision was unenforceable for two reasons. First, it purported to prevent Briles from working as an “owner, operator, manager, employee, officer, director, consultant, advisor, representative or otherwise.” As such, the prohibition was an impermissible “in any capacity” restriction. Second, it purported to bar solicitation of all of Global Link’s customers, regardless of whether Briles had material contact with them. 

Faced with hostile law, Global Link made two additional arguments. It asserted that Briles’s agreement should be viewed under Georgia’s more lenient degree of scrutiny afforded to restrictive covenants executed in connection with the sale of a business. The Court of Appeals rejected this argument, concluding that Briles did not own an interest in Global Link’s predecessor when he executed the agreement in question. Thus, the fact that he acquired an equity stake in Global Link when it purchased the predecessor was immaterial. 

Global Link also argued that the trial court’s order ignored Georgia’s policy of deferring to actions previously filed in other jurisdictions, as well as the parties’ own forum selection clause, and that it undermined state and federal policy favoring arbitration. The Court of Appeals dismissed each of these arguments. It found that Briles had obtained relief from the trial court after Global Link had dismissed an action filed against Briles in Delaware and before either party commenced arbitration. Moreover, the Court of Appeals cited to the language of the arbitration provision in Briles’s employment agreement, which specifically stated that the parties could obtain injunctive relief in court prior to arbitration.

Global Link illustrates the difficulties in enforcing a restrictive covenant in Georgia. The Court of Appeals was able to pick from any one of a number of rules to knock out the restrictive covenants. The decision also highlights the fact that the relaxed scrutiny for restrictive covenants in the sale of a business context applies only if the covenant was signed as part of the actual sale.