Many Connecticut business owners have agreements (so called "non-compete agreements") in place with their employees concerning competition or solicitation. When an employee leaves a company, business owners have to decide if they should try to enforce the non-compete agreement by filing a lawsuit or engaging an attorney. Here are 5 factors to consider:
1. Is the contract reasonable? I have reviewed hundreds of these agreements, and they are all different (even the agreements I draft). There are various legal and factual requirements that you will need to satisfy for enforcement of non-compete or non-solicitation contracts. However, in general, the first question you have to ask is whether the contract is reasonable in light of the business you are in and purpose behind the specific contractual terms.
For this reason, it is always a good idea to have an attorney draft your agreement specifically tailored for your legitimate business concerns. Getting a form template online and applying it to your business may seem like a cost effective approach, but what happens when you really need to enforce your agreement?
2. What are you trying to protect? Generally speaking, it is easier to convince a court to stop a departing employee from taking your customers or manufacturing process than it is to stop the employee from working for a competitor. For example, the chances of successful enforcement increases if your contract was drafted to protect customers the employee was working with as opposed to trying to stop the employee from working in any type of role for a competitor. Additionally, courts are much more likely to entertain an injunction for protection of legitimate confidential information.
3. Are you worried about creating a standard for other employees? Employees that leave always talk to the employees that stay behind. It is a fact of life. In addition, word gets around about the details of any settlement involving non-competes. Why? Well, for one, everyone wants to know whether a business will actually seek to enforce their contracts. If a company continually declines to enforce their non-compete agreements, other employees may get the idea that the same rule will apply.
4. What are the risks involved? It may be difficult to know the full extent of the risk posed by a departing employee. However, it is important not to underestimate the risks. I have seen circumstances where a business loses only one small client at first, but suffering major loses many months down the road. Some questions to consider: (1) have you lost clients or are you in danger of losing clients; (2) is there a danger of the employee disclosing or using legitimate confidential information; (3) what did the employee have access to while at work (i.e. client lists, trade secrets, and financial information); and (4) was there an exit interview conducted and return of confidential information verified.
5. Litigation costs v benefits. I ask clients to make a business decision by weighing the risks (see # 4) versus the costs involved. Litigation costs are dependent on a number of factors. Some examples of factors that impact litigation costs include (1) the nature of the dispute; (2) the strength of the contract; (3) the ability of the departing employee to defend the case; (4) the lawyer defending the case; and (5) the type of action you decide to bring.
These are only some of the many factors a business should consider when confronting a decision on enforcement of a non-compete.