Company files business litigation against former employee
On behalf of Kadish & Associates Law Group posted in Construction Litigation on Monday, September 28, 2015.
Many Arizona companies require employees to sign non-disclosure and non-compete agreements as part of their employment agreements when they are hired. In order for those agreements to be enforceable, they must meet certain requirements under state law. This will ensure that, if a violation occurs, a company can file business litigation against the employee.
Filing a lawsuit is what a company in another state recently did when it discovered that a former employee was in violation of a non-compete agreement. Back in Sept. 2013, he signed non-compete and non-disclosure agreements as part of his employment. The agreements require the man’s compliance for one year from the date of termination of his employment.
The employee left the Texas company voluntarily on June 6 of this year. Just a couple of months later, current company employees saw the man at a conference wearing a shirt of another company considered to be a competitor of his former employer. He told his former co-workers that he was performing substantially the same duties for the new company as he did for his old employer. The company alleges that his activities are a breach of the contracts he had signed. It will be up to a court there to determine whether that is the case.
When requesting damages in business litigation, not only monetary restitution may be sought. Non-economic damages such as injunctions may also be ordered by a court if good cause is shown. Many Arizona businesses have proprietary information that could jeopardize their success. Having certain employees agree to keep that information confidential, and to refrain from taking employment from another company that might require it, could help protect a company’s future. If those agreements are violated, filing a lawsuit similar to this one might be in order.
Source: setexasrecord.com, “Former employee violates non-compete contract, plaintiff says“, Molly English-Bowers, Sept. 10, 2015