In Pennsylvania, a company and an employee can enter into an agreement whereby, in exchange for some form of consideration, the employee agrees not to compete with the company after the employment ends. Consideration can come in a variety of forms; for example, a raise, bonus, promotion, or sugar. Initial employment…
You’re hiring for an engineer position. To assist, you engage a search firm, which finally locates an ideal candidate. After a telephone conversation, and a subsequent tour and in-depth interview, you know that you have the right person for the job. So, you prepare and send an offer letter. The…
You’re looking to hire a new salesperson. Scott Salesperson comes in to interview. He currently works for your top competitor. “Scott, do you have a non-competition agreement?” “No.” “Scott, do you have a confidentiality agreement?” “No. In fact, I have a list of my own customers that I could sell…
I was reading a blog post from Jennifer L. Gokenbach at the Colorado Employer’s Law Blog, discussing how, as of yesterday, Colorado deems continuation of at-will employment to be sufficient consideration to support a non-competition agreement. In non-lawyer speak, that means that if an employee signs an agreement not-to-compete in Colorado…
In an unpublished opinion, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals denied a Pennsylvania company’s attempt to enjoin a former employee, who had entered into several restrictive covenants with the company, to compete directly against the company and solicit its customers. What did this employer do wrong and how can you…
This story that I wrote with my Dilworth Paxson LLP colleague, David Laigaie, the Chair of Dilworth’s Corporate Investigation/White Collar Group, recently appeared in The Legal Intelligencer. If you operate a business in Pennsylvania and you have trade secrets, employees with non-solicitation agreements, or non-competition agreements, then take a few…