Washington

Subscribe to Washington via RSS

Several ex-employees now may compete with their former employer, and may solicit its employees and customers, after a federal judge in the Eastern District of Washington held that the restrictive provisions in their employment agreements are unenforceable. 

The agreements, drafted by the former employer, contained a choice-of-law provision which the former employer tried unsuccessfully to invalidate.  The court also held …
Continue Reading Non-Compete And Non-Solicitation Covenants Contained In Bovine Artificial Insemination Employment Agreements Held Unenforceable

(N.B.: Neither the author, this article, nor this blog intends to make, nor makes, any comments for or against the legalization of marijuana in any jurisdiction.)

What happens when you mix animal affection with a political issue? A Constitutional Convention? Tax dollars for pet shelters? Would you believe…trade secret litigation?

People love their pets. There are doggie …
Continue Reading High Times in Trade Secrets

By Robert Milligan and Joshua Salinas

As part of our annual tradition, we are pleased to present our discussion of the top 10 developments/headlines in trade secret, computer fraud, and non-compete law for 2013. Please join us for our complimentary webinar on March 6, 2014, at 10:00 a.m. P.S.T., where we will discuss them in greater detail. As with all …
Continue Reading Top 10 Developments/Headlines in Trade Secret, Computer Fraud, and Non-Compete Law in 2013

Can Oregon employers bring conversion claims against employees who misappropriate confidential information without having their claims preempted by the state’s Uniform Trade Secrets Act? According to a recent Oregon federal district court opinion, the answer is “yes”; however, in several other states, the answer is “no”.

This result highlights the continued divergence of opinion across the nation…

Continue Reading Conversion Claim for Theft of Confidential Information Not Preempted By Trade Secrets Act

On May 21, 2013, Washington Governor Jay Inslee signed into law Senate Bill 5211, which with certain exceptions prohibits mandatory employee disclosure of ‘personal’ social-networking account information and profiles. The revised bill passed the Washington house and senate unanimously, and will go into effect on July 28, 2013. Washington thus became the ninth state to pass such legislation, which…
Continue Reading Washington State Passes Social Networking Privacy Legislation

By Robert Milligan and Grace Chuchla

California federal courts have again said it loud and clear — when analyzing whether or not the enforcement of a forum selection clause within a non-competition agreement is contrary to California public policy, the court will not consider the substantive effects of enforcing the clause.  In a recent case out of the Northern District, …
Continue Reading California Federal Court Dismisses California Employee’s Challenge Of His Non-Compete Agreement Based Upon Enforceable Forum Selection Provision

On January 30th, the Washington state senate introduced a bill which would prohibit public and private employers within the state from requiring employees to turn over their online social-network account passwords.  Senate Bill 5211.  As we previously blogged, a number of states have passed or are considering similar legislation, which ostensibly is aimed at protecting employees’ privacy in their

…
Continue Reading Hands Off My Tweets: Washington State Senate Proposes Ban on Mandatory Disclosure of Employee Social Networking Passwords

With today’s college football National Championship game between Alabama and Notre Dame, a recent trade secret decision regarding the interplay between trade secrets and NFL scouting grades caught our eye.

National Football Scouting authors several hundred six-page biographical reports annually on outstanding college football players. The reports are sold for $75,000 each to 21 NFL teams to use during the…
Continue Reading Rankings Of NFL Prospects May Constitute Trade Secrets

In Moore v. Commercial Aircraft Interiors, 2012 WL 1947890 (Wash. Ct. App., May 29, 2012), a Washington Appeals Court held that a former employee suing his former employer for tortious interference with business expectancy must show actual evidence and not simply conclusory statements of his alleged former employer’s improper purpose, in order to recover.  

Robert Moore (“Moore”) worked for…

Continue Reading Washington Appellate Court Finds That Employer’s Threatening Letter, Relying In Part On Inevitable Disclosure Doctrine, to Former Employee’s Prospective Employer Is Not Actionable

Courts around the country are split as to the circumstances under which the parties’ choice of law set forth in a non-compete agreement will be honored. In a recent diversity jurisdiction case ruling, Arizona U.S. District Court Judge David Campbell recently refused to enjoin violations of a non-compete clause which said that the law of Washington State applied. He held that Arizona…

Continue Reading Because Arizona’s “Fundamental Policy” Regarding Non-Compete Clauses Is So Different From That Of The State Of Washington, Arizona Federal Court Refuses To Enforce Clause’s Provision Calling For Applicability Of Washington State Law