Over the past few years, legislators and government agencies at both the state and federal levels have pushed reforms limiting the use of non-competes and other restrictive covenants by U.S. businesses. Some of those efforts have extended to covenants that restrict a party’s ability to solicit and/or hire employees who are not party to the
Employee Raiding
State Attorneys General Step Up Antitrust Probes of Franchise Industry Hiring Practices
In the midst of a federal effort to ramp up antitrust prosecutions of companies agreeing not to recruit or hire each other’s employees (see previous articles dated November 9, 2016, January 25, 2018, April 25, 2018 and July 17, 2018), special scrutiny – and criticism – has been directed toward the use…
Department Of Justice Fires Warning Shot Over Unlawful No-Poach Agreements
On April 3, 2018, the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division settled an antitrust action against the world’s two largest rail equipment suppliers, accusing them of maintaining “naked” no-poaching agreements in violation of the Sherman Act (see Complaint and Consent Decree). Although the civil enforcement action falls short of the agency’s recently-stated inclination to criminally…
Wisconsin Supreme Court Applies Non-Compete Law To Invalidate Anti-Poaching Covenant
On January 19, 2018, a divided Wisconsin Supreme Court held that an employee non-solicitation covenant was overly broad and unenforceable under state law. In the decision, entitled The Manitowoc Company, Inc. v. Lanning, Case No. 2015AP1530 (Wisc. Jan. 19, 2018), the Court confirmed Wisconsin Statute §103.465, which governs covenants not to compete, extends…
Georgia Court of Appeals Confirms Non-Solicitation of Employees Covenant Need Not Have Geographic or Material Contact Language
As previously noted in Jackson Lewis’ Non-Compete & Trade Secrets Report, Georgia adopted legislation governing restrictive covenant agreements entered into on or after May 11, 2011. This law, however, does not address employee non-solicitation (i.e., anti-pirating) covenants, leaving courts to apply common law to such restrictions. Georgia common law can be confusing and even contradictory…
Cases are easier to start than they are to finish: California Court awards $180,000 in sanctions for meritless trade secret misappropriation lawsuit brought in bad faith
The California Court of Appeal has upheld an award of monetary sanctions against a company that brought a lawsuit against its competitor that the court found was meritless and intended to stifle competition. Cypress Semiconductor Corp. v. Maxim Integrated Products, Inc., H038555 (Apr. 28, 2015). Cypress sued Maxim for trade secret misappropriation, alleging Maxim…
Company Pays For Taking Short Cuts to Start New Business
A New Jersey state court judge has allowed a $10 million jury verdict to stand in favor of biotech firm GenScript USA in its trade secret and employee piracy claims against competitor, Genewiz, Inc. In October 2014, the jury had entered a multi-million dollar verdict in GenScript’s favor following a six-week trial. The jury found…
Claims in Pennsylvania Lawsuit Alleging En Masse Defection of Employees as “Sabotage” Survive Dismissal
A U.S. District Judge in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania has allowed several claims to proceed to trial following a motion for summary judgment by defendants in Ozburn-Hessey Logistics, LLC v. 721 Logistics, LLC, et al, No. 12-0864 (April 4, 2014). The allegations in the case go beyond the typical defection of an employee…
NY Appellate Division Rejects Challenge to Forum and Choice of Law by California Defendant
In the latest chapter of an ongoing dispute between Aon Risk Services and Alliant Insurance Services (stemming from Alliant’s hiring of dozens of Aon employees and accepting millions in annual revenue from former Aon clients), on January 10, 2013, the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department issued a decision upholding key rulings…