To protect their trade secrets and other valuable confidential information, former employers have sued former employees for breach of their non-compete agreements, along with additional causes of action. The factual basis for these additional causes of action and damages therefrom, are typically based on the same factual allegations that form the action for breach of…
Continue reading ›A party seeking a temporary injunction to enforce a non-compete agreement must establish four elements: (1) a likelihood of irreparable harm and the unavailability of an adequate remedy at law; (2) a substantial likelihood of success on the merits; (3) the threatened injury to the petitioner outweighs any possible harm to the respondent, and (4)…
Continue reading ›The Lanham Act does not contain a statute of limitations. When the filing of a trademark infringement lawsuit is delayed for years, the defendants may instead assert laches as an affirmative defense. Federal courts use the limitations period for analogous state law claims as a standard for the defense of laches. Peter Mavrick is a…
Continue reading ›Florida’s Non-Competition Covenant Statute, § 542.335, permits agreements that restrain competition so long as the agreement meets certain statutory requirements. One of the statutory requirements is that the party seeking to enforce the non-compete agreement must “plead and prove the existence of one or more legitimate business interests justifying the restrictive covenant.” § 542.335(1)(b), Florida…
Continue reading ›Many employers possess confidential information vital to generating profits. Employers routinely entrust employees with this information to facilitate business operations, but employees often leave their job after a few years to work for a competitor. When this happens, the employee takes the confidential information he or she learned to the next job. The employee might…
Continue reading ›It is well settled in Florida law that “an employee does not violate his duty of loyalty when he merely organizes a corporation during his employment to carry on a rival business after the expiration of his employment.” Fish v. Adams, 401 So.2d 843 (Fla. 5th DCA 1981). Absent a non-compete agreement, a former employee…
Continue reading ›A recent decision from the federal appellate court that decides the legal standards for employment discrimination claims in Florida federal courts made it much easier for employers to defend against employment discrimination lawsuits. Under federal law, a plaintiff’s burden in an intentional-discrimination claim includes the burden to present evidence of other individuals who are “similarly…
Continue reading ›Punitive damages punish and dissuade wrong-doers from committing egregious acts by increasing the damages award to exceed compensable injuries. Cooper Indus., Inc. v. Leatherman Tool Group, Inc., 532 U.S. 424, 432 (2001) (the purpose of punitive damages is to punish and deter future wrongdoing); Engle v. Liggett Group, Inc., 945 So. 2d 1246, 1265 (Fla.…
Continue reading ›Under Florida law, a restrictive covenant is not enforceable “unless it is set forth in a writing signed by the person against whom enforcement is sought.” Fla. Stat. § 542.335(1)(a). So, what happens if the written agreement is lost, destroyed or stolen? Generally, the loss or unintentional destruction of a written document does not affect…
Continue reading ›Under Florida law, noncompete agreements signed after July 1996 are governed by Florida Statutes § 542.335. This statute is the basis for court decisions as to whether any non-competition contract can be enforced in the State of Florida. Over the years, court decisions have grappled with two related issues: (1) whether a non-compete agreement is…
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