Modern Civil Rights (Case Study Sample)

Florida and the Modern Civil Rights Movement
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Institution:
Employee Non-Compete Agreements
Given the present tough competition among many industries in the United States, many companies are forcing their employees to sign the non-compete agreements upon recruitment in their companies. This issue has rapidly intensified mainly because industries are swiftly shifting from manufacturing towards service provision. This shifting means that jobs by service providers are rate higher than the manufacturing sector jobs. In addition, employees in the world today have become more aggressive, where they can easily leave a job and open their own business or firm using the experience they have gained from their former employers.[Hamlin John C. 2010 Non-Compete Agreements – What You Should Know Retrieved from /Non-Competes.html]
What is Employee Non-Compete Agreement and what is its importance? This is the questions that will be the point of focus for this paper. This paper will go over a few of the acts related to this topic that have been passed over the years and how they apply differently in different states in the United States. This paper will discuss protections that these acts provide to employers and what an employee should know before signing the agreement. This paper will also discuss the necessary steps a worker can take to obtain protection, when compelled to sign the agreement.
A non-compete clause or covenant not to compete agreement applies under the contract law where one party usually, the employee agrees to sign an agreement that forbids them from entering or starting a similar trade or profession in competition against the other party that is usually the employer. A non-compete clause is therefore a contract provision bound by various customary contract requirements such as the consideration doctrine. The use of these clauses is based on the possibility that the employee might start working for the rivals or start a similar business upon their termination or resignation, exploiting confidential information of the former employer's operations or business secrets as their competitive advantage.
Non-compete agreements may arise in various circumstances. The most common areas are in employment relationships between the employer and the employee, between stockholder agreements and in cases of a business disposal. The provision of non-compete agreement has been enforced different in different states. This paper will look at how this provision has been enforced in Florida and Middlesex. The provision will mainly address non-compete agreements under Florida law and also analyze a court a case titled ARS Services, Inc. v. Baker, et al., Middlesex Superior Court, Civil Action No.12-00105 so as to understand how the clause has been enforced in the past.[Bierwirth, L. Joseph. 2012. Case Study: Enforcing a non-compete agreement with a former employee Retrieved on May 22, 2014 from /media/pnc/9/media.269.pdf]
Case Study 1: Florida Law
The enforcement on non-compete agreement in Florida is not a new concept given the historical nature of Florida as one of the most employer friendly states in the United States. Gretchen, is a 28 year old IT expert who was working in a Telecommunications company in Florida. She says that her employer intimidated her to sign a non-compete form after working for six months, failure to which she would be fired. She signed the agreement but subsequently lost her job from that company. However, she says that she was unable to secure another job as the agreement forbid her from working for their competitors. The single mother of two narrates the difficult moment she went through and says that she had to start in another career from scratch. Her second career has currently been stricken by serious challenges and she is now wondering what might be the recourse of a worker who has signed such an agreement.[Meiners, Roger E., Al H. Ringleb and Frances L. Edwards. 2011. The legal environment of business. Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning.]
On July 2012, Polselli, the owner of Ripe Delights, which is a fruit bouquet business based in Palm Beach, Florida, sued two of her employees in the Arden Courts, Florida. She says "as a small business owner, your business is the entire resource you have, if they looked for work in some textile firm or designer shop, I would have had no problems.”[Miller, Roger LeRoy, Frank B. Cross, and Gaylord A. Jentz. 2013. Business law: alternative edition text and summarized cases: legal, ethical, global, and corporate environment. Mason, Ohio: South-Western Cengage Learning.]
Barbara Poole is a legal expert who works in a litigation law firm located in Broward County. He says that signing the non-compete form is like signing a prenuptial contract. "In states like Florida, it is unfortunate that the chances for an employee’s recourse is next to zero if an employee knowingly signed such an agreement" says Poole. His caution to employees is to think first before signing such an agreement, "otherwise, you are signing at your own peril”.[Miller, Roger LeRoy, Frank B. Cross, and Gaylord A. Jentz. 2013. Business law: alternative edition text and summarized cases: legal, ethical, global, and corporate environment. Mason, Ohio: South-Western Cengage Learning.]
Case Study 2: Middlesex County, Massachusetts.
When David Baker resigned from ARS Services an emergency restoration company doing business in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island and New Hampshire a non-compete agreement he had signed with the company bound him. The agreement stated that Mr. Baker could not work in disaster restoration field for one year on undertake any project in a space of 40 miles of any of the 6 ARS’s offices. Despite this agreement, Mr. Baker went ahead and began to work for one of ARS’s direct rivals, Harvey Remodeling, in the capacity of a sales manager in the emergency restoration operation. His new position made him have direct contact with insurance adjusters and other business development contacts he had developed while at ARS.[Bierwirth, L. Joseph. 2012. Case Study: Enforcing a non-compete agreement with a former employee Retrieved on May 22, 2014 from /media/pnc/9/media.269.pdf]
ARS turned to a litigation attorney with Hemenway & Barnes for help. Mr. Joe Bierwirth the attorney filed for a preliminary injunction in Middlesex Superior Court arguing that Mr. Baker’s activities as sales manager with Harvey Remodeling Restoration Division breached his non-compete agreement. He disclosed to the court how the company had invested in Mr. Baker’s career development and sales exertions while as an employee with ARS.
The court granted a preliminary injunction on Feb. 21, 2012. Judge Thomas Murtagh of Orange Superior Court decided that "ARS had demonstrated comprehensively that the enforcement of the Agreement was necessary to prevent the company from suffering irreparable harm. He stated "If Baker is allowed to continue working for Harvey Remodeling Restoration Division, ARS may face the distinct possibility of losing its goodwill to its customers and risk losing those customers to Harvey Remodeling." The decision held that Mr. Baker could not be employed by Harvey Remodeling nor employed in any other company in a disaster restoration work within the non-compete agreement geographic area.[Bierwirth, L. Joseph. 2012. Case Study: Enforcing a non-compete agreement with a former employee Retrieved on May 22, 2014 from /media/pnc/9/media.269.pdf]
What Employees Should Know
Mark is an attorney who works with Wasserman & Gora in Boca Raton, Florida. He says that a company is not obligated by the court to provide evidence that the employee is causing damage to the company by working for a rival company. The signed agreement according to Mark is satisfactory evidence in the court for the company. However, employee may be at liberty to provide evidence to defend themselves. However, finding such evidence that is convincing is a difficult task.[Hamlin John C. 2010 Non-Compete Agreements – What You Should Know Retrieved on May 22, 2014 from /Non-Competes.html]
He advices the employees to think and weigh the options before signing such an agreement especially in states like Florida where courts have a history of favoring employers in such matters. Mark also advices the employee to find out how the none compete clause in your state applies. This information can be found from the labor department. He also states that Non-compete agreements is a tricky part of law and tough choice for the employee because the employer may refuse to hire an employee if he or she refuses to sign the agreement. He therefore asks the employee to carefully read through the document, preferably with a lawyer’s assistance to fully understand what you are signing.[Hamlin John C. 2010 Non-Compete Agreements – What You Should Know Retrieved on May 22, 2014 from /Non-Competes.html]