When a key employee subject to an employment restraint leaves a business to join a competitor, fast decisions need to be made to protect client goodwill or guard against misuse of confidential information.
The more leverage an employer has against the former employee and his or her new employer, the better the prospects of negotiating a sensible solution quickly or,
Continue Reading Leveraging Employment Restraints to Protect Business Assets
An employee executed an employment agreement which included a two-year covenant not to solicit the employer’s customers. When the employer sold the company’s assets, the sale included that agreement. The employee then went to work for the assets purchaser but subsequently resigned. The Texas Appellate Court held that the two-year period began to run on the date the assets seller
Continue Reading Customer Non-Solicitation Covenant Runs From Date Employment With Asset Seller Terminated, Not From Later Date Employment With Asset Purchaser Ended
By Ming Henderson and Razia Begum
With the increasing number of disputes and client queries regarding confidential information in the United Kingdom, the recent case of Personnel Hygiene Services Ltd & ors v. Rentokil Initial UK Ltd , EWCA Civ 29, 29 January 2014, serves as a useful reminder of the extensive protection of confidential information.
The Court of Appeal,
Continue Reading Recent Decision Affirms Significant Protections for Confidential Information in United Kingdom
While treats are in abundance on Halloween, a Minnesota employer recently received a trick when a federal court denied its temporary restraining order application. A Minnesota federal court held that an ex-employer’s apprehension that a former employee violated or would violate a non-compete and confidentiality agreement was entirely speculative and, thus, did not warrant a TRO. Sempris, LLC v. Watson
Continue Reading Speculative Fears Insufficient for Non-Compete Temporary Restraining Order Against Former Employee
A private medical transport service was recently unsuccessful in persuading the U.S. District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands to enter a preliminary injunction prohibiting two ex-employees from competing with and soliciting customers of their former employer. The judge cited Section 188 of the Restatement of Contracts (Second) as authority for denying injunctive relief where the potential harm to the
Continue Reading Paramedics Defeat Noncompete and Customer Nonsolicit Preliminary Injunction on Grounds of Potential Harm to Public and Paramedics
By Robert Milligan and Grace Chuchla
The Missouri Supreme Court recently issued a decision, Whelan Security Co. v. Kennebrew, et al., 2012 Mo. LEXIS 167, reaffirming Missouri as a pro non-compete jurisdiction for employers.
The Court’s decision makes clear that Missouri courts applying Missouri law will enforce non-competition and customer non-solicitation and employee non-solicitation agreements that are reasonable and
Continue Reading Missouri Supreme Court Reaffirms That Missouri Is A Pro Non-Compete Jurisdiction, Enforcing Non-Competition and Modified Non-Solicitation Agreements Against Non-Resident Former Security Company Employees