Enforcing noncompete agreement A recent noncompete case from Minnesota offers a cautionary tale for employers and cause for celebration for employees.

The case, Safety Center, Inc. v. Stier, (11/6/17), involved an employer that ran a treatment center for special-needs sex offenders. The employer sought to enforce its noncompete agreement against a former program director (Stier).

The noncompete

Amendments to the Michigan Business Court SRevising Michigan Business Court Disputestatute go into effect today, October 11, 2017. These amendments primarily focus on clarifying the cases that are to be assigned to business courts.

Also, the statute was amended to clarify a Business Court’s jurisdiction to hear business disputes involving equitable or declaratory relief. The amendment now clarifies

Noncompete Agreement and Unfair AdvantageNon-compete agreements are intended to prevent unfair competition. But they often create unfair advantages against employees and start-ups. And these unfair advantages adversely affect individuals and the overall economy. At least that is the take-away from a recent op-ed in the New York Times.

Noncompete Restrictions and the Economy

Specifically, Prof. Orly Lobel wrote in 

Hiring and Legal Compliance According to the US Labor Department, employers added 156,000 jobs last month. Additionally, the participation rate increased to 62.9%. And the average hourly earnings moved 0.2 percentage points. These figures indicate a steadily increasing U.S. economy. But the Labor Department also found that the unemployment rate last month increased from 4.9% to 5%.

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Business conflictEarlier this month a federal district court judge entered a temporary restraining order (TRO) against a former Panera executive and his new employer, Papa Johns. The TRO arose out of a lawsuit to enforce the former Panera executive’s non-compete agreement. That agreement restricted him from competing against Panera for one year after his employment ended.

overly broad noncompete restrictionsUsing a broad brush to draft noncompete agreements that are applied universally to a company’s workforce is increasingly coming under fire. And this exposes companies to unnecessary litigation risks, as well as legal fees associated with enforcement costs.

Employer Abuse of Noncompete Restrictions

A recent example of involves Law360 and its settlement with the New