Hunton Employment & Labor Perspectives

Pending legislation in New York (Senate Bill S3100A/Assembly Bill A1278B) will result in the sharp curtailment of post-employment non-competes if passed into law.  This development is concerning to many employers operating in New York or employing individuals currently living there, but for the moment, it is far from clear whether the current (or any) form of the bill may be passed into law.

We previously posted about Washington, D.C.’s new law governing non-competes, which became effective on October 1, 2022.  D.C. employers, however, should be aware of a provision buried in the law that has nothing to do with non-competes and requires action by the end of this month.   

Since we last reported on the delay of the District of Columbia’s Ban on Non-Compete Agreements Act of 2020 (the “Act”), the D.C. Council passed the Non-Compete Clarification Amendment Act of 2022 (the “Amendment”), effective October 1, 2022, which significantly rolled back some of the more prohibitive features of the original 2020 version of the Act. 

Yesterday, John Smith, the president of ABC Bank, announced to the board of directors that he intended to resign to go work for XYZ Bank, a local competitor. Smith also intends to take some of the bank’s most important customers, and several top officers with him to XYZ Bank. Upset and panicked, the chair of the board contacted the bank’s employment attorney to determine what could be done to stop the president from leaving and taking customers and employees with him. “Send me a copy of John’s employment agreement,” the lawyer said. “Employment agreement? The board did not ...

Roland Juarez will present a webinar on “Defending California Wage and Hour Litigation Amid New Legislation and Court Decisions” on Wednesday, October 28, 2015.

Details and Registration

Robert Flowers and Alan Marcuis will present a webinar on “Compensation & Contracts” to the Independent Community Bankers of America on Wednesday, October 14, 2015.

Robert Flowers and Alan Marcuis will present a webinar on “Compensation & Contracts” to the Independent Community Bankers of America on Wednesday, October 14, 2015.

Jurisdiction

Jurisdiction may be the most important factor organizations should take into consideration when offshoring.  Some countries do not recognize certain U.S. legal doctrines, such as confidentiality agreements, and without proper jurisdiction an organization may be unable to enforce its contract with a vendor.

When selecting an offshore country, organizations should consider whether the country permits a choice of law provision which would allow courts to apply U.S. law.  If the country permits choice of law provisions, the provision should be well defined in the contract so that there is no ambiguity.  Organizations should also consider working with counsel in the offshore country to assist with legal intricacies, even if a United States choice of law provision is permissible.

In Holton v. Physician Oncology Services, LP, et al., Case No. S13A0012 (May 6, 2013), the Georgia Supreme Court limited the use and application of the inevitable disclosure doctrine by declining to recognize it as an independent cause of action. 

The inevitable disclosure doctrine allows an employer to restrict former employees from working for a competitor by demonstrating that the former employees will necessarily rely upon knowledge of the employer’s trade secrets in performing their new job duties. 

Arbitration provisions are increasingly a focus in non-competition litigation these days and are being used in a variety of strategic ways to assist with the enforcement of non-competition clauses.  The United States Supreme Court recently held that an arbitrator, not a state court, should have decided the enforcement of non-competition clauses.  The employer filed for arbitration when two of its employees, who had arbitration provisions in their employment contracts, went to work for a competitor.  The employees filed a state court action challenging the enforcement of the ...

Imagine the following scenario…  Twenty years ago, your Company was the employer at issue in a key Supreme Court of Virginia non-compete agreement case.  Your Company prevailed, with the Supreme Court holding that the Company’s standard non-compete agreement is enforceable under Virginia law.  Relying on that victory, your Company continues using identical non-compete language and believes that it is on firm footing in doing so; after all, the Supreme Court of Virginia - the final arbiter of the meaning of Virginia law - has ruled that your non-compete is enforceable.

CONTINUE ...

On June 24, 2011, the Texas Supreme Court wrote the next chapter concerning the enforceability of non-compete agreements in Texas.  A company’s provision of stock options to employees was deemed satisfactory consideration for a non-compete agreement in Marsh USA Inc. and Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. v. Cook, --- S.W.3d ----, 2011 WL 2517019 (Tex., 2011).  The Court declared that stock options are reasonably related to the protection of a company’s goodwill, a business interest worthy of protection under the Covenants Not to Compete Act (CNCA).  Although goodwill is intangible, Texas law has long recognized that it is “a property and integral part of [a] business just as its physical assets are.” Marsh USA, Inc., 2011 WL 2517019 * 11. 

When asked on November 2, 2010, “Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended so as to make Georgia more economically competitive by authorizing legislation to uphold reasonable competitive agreements,” Georgia voters overwhelmingly answered “Yes.”

By this vote, the Georgia voters approved the Restrictive Covenants Act, a law that will dramatically alter Georgia’s legal landscape regarding non-compete agreements and other restrictive covenants.  The Act increases the enforceability of these agreements and allows courts to modify them to the extent reasonably necessary to enforce and protect legitimate business interests.  In order to become effective, Georgia residents had to amend the state Constitution -- an event that happened three days ago during Georgia’s general election.  Although there is a question regarding when the Act actually will become effective, by its own terms, it became effective on November 3, 2010.  Below is a summary of some of the key provisions of the new law.

Hunton & Williams partners Laura Franze and Roland Juarez recently participated in a panel of California employment law experts to discuss various cutting edge issues in labor and employment law, including the impact of social media, new trends in non-compete agreements and trade secret protections, the ripple effect of the Ninth Circuit's ruling in Dukes v. Wal-Mart, and other related topics.

A recent Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals decision upheld the validity of noncompetition and nonsolicitation covenants in an employment agreement governed by Georgia law.  In H&R Block Eastern Enterprises, Inc. v. Morris, the Eleventh Circuit reversed the United States District Court and ruled that provisions in H&R Block’s employment agreement with its former employee, Vicki D. Morris, were valid and enforceable restrictive covenants under Georgia law.  This decision provides additional guidance to employers attempting to draft enforceable employment agreements to protect legitimate business interests.  It also highlights why the Georgia General Assembly recently passed legislation attempting to offer clarity in this area of the law.

In Mann Frankfort Stein & Lipp Advisors, Inc. v. Fielding, 2009 WL 1028051 (Tex. April 17, 2009), the Texas Supreme Court held that the covenant not to compete at issue was enforceable because the agreement to furnish consideration (confidential information) for the covenant could be inferred due to the nature of the contract.  The Mann Frankfort Court held that a promise can be inferred when the employee was hired to perform work that necessarily required the receipt of confidential information.  Specifically, the Court stated:

We hold that if the nature of the employment for which the employee is hired will reasonably require the employer to provide confidential information to the employee for the employee to accomplish the contemplated job duties, then the employer impliedly promises to provide confidential information and the covenant is enforceable so long as the other requirements of the Covenant Not to Compete Act are satisfied.

Franchisors with operations in the State of Georgia are confronting a new challenge in their effort to enforce non-competition rights against franchisees.  In Atlanta Bread Co. v. Lupton-Smith (6/29/09), the Supreme Court of Georgia held that an “in-term” non-competition clause within a franchise agreement is held to the same strict scrutiny standard applicable to post-term and employment contract non-competition clauses.