Legal Question in Employment Law in Maryland
Who employeed me
Thank you in advance for your answers. My husband and I worked for a company a little over 5 yrs, in or about the 4th year the owner was interested in a new venture(company ''B'') involving us. We liked the sounds of it and agreed to be a part of it. This is where my questions start. My pay never change, nor any benefits(health insurance, 401K, vacation, Christmas club). I continued to recieve a weekly salary from company ''A'', also have been W2'd by said company. We signed a non-compete agreement with company''B'', now company ''B'' has never paid me or offered me any benefits. So my main question is..Whose employee were we? and if we are the employee of company''A'' can they enforce this non-compete agreement? We are living in Florida at this time but would like to go back to Maryland and work. We are afraid this past employeer will try to enforce the non-compete.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Who employeed me
Not sure whether you were an employee of one or both entities, but what comes to mind is whether: (a) company B has a legitimate business interest that would be worthy of protection to support the non-compete's validity; and (b) whether the non-compete would be enforceable against working in Maryland. Florida law makes it difficult to prohibit an employee from working in such a broad geographic area as the entire Eastern sea board in most cases.
Re: Who employeed me
An attorney would need much more information to give you a legal opinion you could rely on, but here are some generalities. In both MD and FL (as in most states), the courts say that non-competes must be reasonable in terms of geography and application (the type of work prohibited), as well as time, to be enforceable. So the non-compete, even if valid, might not apply in MD depending on how it is written and other facts.
As to which company employed you, it could be both for legal purposes although it sounds like there is a valid argument that company B does not actualy exist for legal purposes. In other words, they have not taken any actions independent of company A to make them a legitimate company in the eyes of the law.
If you need to hire an attoney to analyze the contract, all the facts, and applicable law and give you an opinion, please feel free to contact me directly. I happen to be licensed in both FL and MD (as well as DC), so could help you with the law in both states.
Good luck (and check out Cantler's Restaurant in Annapolis for the crabs if you move back!)
Jeff Sheldon
The Sheldon Law Firm
Caveat: This is general advice only and should not be relied upon as legal advice because all facts and circumstances are not known to the author.
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