One of the most common questions I get asked by both business clients and individuals is whether their non-compete agreement is enforceable. As explained below, a number of points will determine the answer, but none are more important than what essentially amounts to a “wild card” — the judge deciding your case.
Attorney Brett Snider
Trade secret theft continues to be a major concern (or it should be) for businesses. And the numbers back up this conclusion; In an article by by Will Yakowicz, appearing in Inc., “How to Avoid Becoming a Victim of Trade Secret Theft,” it’s noted that:
Criminal theft of corporate trade secrets is reaching epidemic levels, experts say … the number of trade secret cases in U.S. federal courts doubled between 1988 and 1995, doubled again from 1995 to 2004, and is projected to double again by 2017.
Mr. Yakowicz’s article goes on to provide business owners with great advice on how to reduce trade secret thefts in your business. Having recently wrapped a trade secret misappropriation trial filed in Michigan state court, I can definitely say that the article is worth reading and the recommendations should be meaningfully considered by any business with information worth protecting.
For background purposes, I represented a company and its executives who were sued for claims involving trade secret misappropriation, breach of a non-compete agreement, and other business related claims. One problem with any sort of lawsuit is that often times the facts get in the way.
This became clear as two days after the trial began, the lawsuit settled on terms very favorable to my clients (Plaintiff had requested over $860,000 at Michigan’s case evaluation procedure, which resulted in the evaluation panel awarding $175,000 against my clients). However, the parties settled the lawsuit for $8,500.00 payable over time.
Continue Reading What Steps Can Your Business Take to Avoid Becoming a Victim of Trade Secret Theft?
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder said Thursday, May 29, 2014 that he would like to see Michigan lawmakers amend the state’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act to include language about sexual orientation and gender identity before the end of the year. These statements were made in an interview with Crain’s Detroit Business, as reported by Chris Gautz
“Should Companies Monitor Their Employees’ Social Media?” This question was debated by the Wall Street Journal on 5/12/2014.
On one side of the debate was Ms. Nancy Flynn who took the position that companies absolutely must monitor their employees’ social media use, as well as use social media to screen job applicants. Or in her words:
Management has a right and responsibility to monitor how employees are using social media at all times … companies should ask for access to employees’ Facebook accounts and other private social media.
Mr. Lewis Maltby took the contrary view that monitoring employees’ social media use should be the exception. That exception being limited to when it is believed an employee engaged in misconduct and it should not be used to screen job applicants.
The fact is the vast majority of what employees do on the Internet has nothing to do with work, takes place during their private lives and is done on their personal computers … It’s simply too easy to turn social-media searches into fishing expeditions.
Continue Reading Monitoring Employees’ Private Social Media – Putting Together a Sensible Approach
Employers and their HR professionals may want to sit down before reading on: If a manager in your company text messages a picture of his “fully erect penis” to an employee and then fires that employee the day after she brings this to your attention, you will probably be sued. In other news, water tends
Under a recent federal court ruling, Michigan employers must be prepared to consider telecommuting as a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for an employee under a 4/22/2014 court ruling.
Specifically, Jane Harris was terminated from her position as a resale steel buyer at Ford Motor Co. This termination occurred shortly after she asked
Employee terminations are an unfortunate reality of every business. But that doesn’t mean employers and their managers are good at carrying out terminations.
Take for example a response Sir James Dyson (yes, the vacuum guy was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2006) gave when he responded to Bloomberg Businessweek’s “Ask a Billionaire” feature that
Under Michigan law, requiring current employees to sign a non-compete agreement presents unique issues for employers when it comes to having an enforceable agreement.
Continue Reading Requiring a Current Employee to Sign a Non-compete Agreement: Will it be Enforceable?
Michigan’s Governor Rick Snyder issued today a press release announcing that Michigan will not recognize any of the 300 plus same-sex marriages that were performed last weekend. These same-sex marriages were performed after a federal judge declared Michigan’s ban on same-sex marriage to be unconstitutional.
Unwilling to accept this decision, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette decided
Trade Secret Saturdays is a new initiative for a weekly round-up of articles and blog posts focused on trade secrets that caught our attention or that should be on your company’s radar screen. Enjoy.