Legal Question in Employment Law in New Jersey

Re: Breach of contract case

Companies are generally permitted to protect their confidential and proprietary business information, goodwill, customer relationships, and relationships with strategic partners. In determining whether a noncompete agreement is reasonable and therefore enforceable, courts consider the following: (1) is the restrictive covenant necessary to protect the employer's legitimate interests; (2) does the covenant impose any undue hardship on the employee; and, (3) is the covenant injurious to the public interest. In addition to the non-compete, you may also need to look at whether you are subject to a non-disclosure agreement as well.

Please note that this inquiry is a very fact-sensitive analysis, and can only really be evaluated after reviewing the actual documents and facts involved.

Re: Breach of contract case

The short answer is: Yes, Company A has a case--because it's been filed against you. Do not make the mistake of thinking that you can sign an agreement and ignore it later. New Jersey Courts routinely enforce non-compete agreements that are �reasonable� in scope. A non-compete agreement will generally be considered reasonable if it (1) protects the legitimate interests of the employer; (2) does not impose an undue hardship on the employee; and (3) is not injurious to the public.

If the geographic and temporal restrictions in your non-compete agreement exceed the boundaries necessary to protect your employer, a New Jersey court may modify the agreement by reducing those restrictions to make the agreement reasonable. See Solari Industries v. Malady, 55 N.J. 571 (1970).

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