Employee non-compete agreements have faced mounting scrutiny in recent years. Proponents say non-competes are indispensable for protecting trade secrets and other business interests. Critics say they hurt employee mobility and wage growth. Now the federal government has stepped into the ...

Tagged with: Employment Noncompete

A federal judge has put on hold the usual motion to dismiss in a noncompete and trade secrets case to let the parties explore whether the alleged noncompete agreements were actually signed by the departed employees. Those employees – sales ...

Tagged with: Employment Judge Thomas T. Cullen Noncompete Trade secrets U.S. District Court - Western District

A telecommunications company won its suit against a contract worker accused of siphoning away its business, but there was a catch. The plaintiff company persuaded a jury to award damages for the worker’s violation of a noncompete/nonsolicitation clause in the ...

Tagged with: Fairfax County Circuit Court Federal Aviation Administration Noncompete Solentus

An employer lost its opening bid to stop a former manager from working for an alleged competitor in a multi-state home-building business, when an Alexandria federal court denied the employer’s motion for a preliminary injunction on Feb. 14. In arguing ...

Tagged with: Employment Judge Liam O'Grady Noncompete U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Labeling an employee as an independent contractor – thereby avoiding taxes and other employer obligations – will void a noncompete agreement in the worker’s contract, a Fairfax circuit judge has ruled. Fairfax Circuit Judge John M. Tran said an educator’s ...

Tagged with: Noncompete

A popular Roanoke Valley allergist is free to practice in that community under a ruling by a circuit court judge. The judge concluded that a noncompete agreement with the doctor’s former practice group was flawed both by vague terminology and ...

Tagged with: Employment Judge Charles N. Dorsey Noncompete

A Salem physician claims he was terminated by his practice group after the business forced him to sign a noncompete agreement that now bars him from working anywhere near his home. Allergist Thomas Fame is asking a judge to release ...

Tagged with: Employment Judge Charles N. Dorsey Noncompete Roanoke Circuit Court

A business that specializes in vehicle interior repair has stalled in its attempt to halt competition by two ex-employees who went to work for a competing business operated by the son of the plaintiff business’s founder. A Fairfax Circuit judge ...

Tagged with: Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Bruce D. White Noncompete

Lawyer defections often come with hurt feelings, a sense of betrayed loyalty and bitter recriminations. They also come with ethical snares that can lead to distracting and costly litigation just when both sides need to get on with business. One ...

Tagged with: Ethics Law Firms Noncompete

An ex-employee sued on a noncompete agreement did not get a quick exit out of court by filing a demurrer saying the agreement was unenforceable, the Supreme Court of Virginia said on Sept. 12. The high court surveyed its recent ...

Tagged with: Employment Judge Robert J. Smith Justice Cynthia D. Kinser Justice Elizabeth A. McClanahan Noncompete Supreme Court of Virginia News