PLEASE NOTE: EVERY CASE IS UNIQUE AND  DEPENDS ON A VARIETY OF FACTORS, INCLUDING THE FACTS, PARTIES, ISSUES, ANDD JURISDICTION. ALTHOUGH FRITH & ELLERMAN LAW FIRM, P.C., WAS SUCCESSFUL IN THESE CASES, WE CANNOT GUARANTEE OR PREDICT A SIMILAR RESULT ON ANY FUTURE CASE UNDERTAKEN BY OUR FIRM. 

Non-Compete Clause Held Unreasonable and Unenforceable by Virginia Arbitrator:

Our client, a successful recruiter, (think head-hunter) was sued in the spring of 2008 for over $300,000 in alleged damages by her prior employer. The employer alleged she breached her contract and non-compete when she started her own recruiting business within a 50 mile radius of her old office. In addition, it was alleged she misappropriated trade secret information and proprietary information.

As the contract required arbitration, the case was heard and decided by an arbitrator rather than the local circuit court. The contract was held to be an unreasonable restriction on our client's right to make a living as well as being overly broad and not limited to protect the employer's legitimate business interest. Lastly, the Arbitrator held the franchise owner failed to show proof of financial loss. Legally speaking, this means he could not provde he suffered damages as a result of the employee's actions. 

Defendant employee was able to keep working at her new business and did not pay her prior employer one cent. 

Non-Compete Held Unreasonable and Unenforceable by Virginia Circuit Court:

On September 28, 2008, Judge Grubbs of the Floyd County Circuit Court, held that a five year non-compete agreement was an unreasonable restriction on employee's right to earn a living. Although the Court did not rule whether the 90 mile geographic scope was reasonable, the Court held the employer / Plaintiff failed to meet his burden of proof. Basically, he lacked evidence to support his claim that the restriction was reasonable. Without any proof that five years was necessary to protect the employer's business interest, the Court struck down the agreement as unreasonable and under Virginia law, unenforceable. Ridgerunner, LLC v. Pace, Floyd Co.  CL08-07-00 (2008). 

Breach of Contract, Tortious Interference Claim, Conspiracy and Trade Secret Act Case Settled:

 Sometimes a win for a client means having a lawsuit dropped or a settlement reached. Dan and Lauren defended a 200 paragraph ten count lawsuit filed in Northern Virginia on behalf of an ex-employee. The lawsuit sought hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages and alleged intentional acts were committed by the employee to damage the reputation of his prior company. 

Not only is our client satisfied with the result, but he was able to participate in the terms of settlement rather than have a local jury decide if he was liable. Terms of settlement are confidential by agreement.

If you would like a free evaluation of your case, please contact us by phone at (866) 985-0098, by email at info@frithlawfirm.com, or by completing our online form.