“Sixth circuit court held that Orthofix, Inc.’s (Orthofix) non-disclosure and non-compete clauses protected Orthofix’s confidential information regardless of whether the information achieved trade secret status or not”. The defendant, Eric Hunter (“defendant”) was a medical device salesman for Orthofix for 12 years where he sold a specific medical products (bone growth stimulators) that only Orthofix and two other top competitors sold. Upon joining
Orthofix, Hunter signed an employment agreement that contained both a non-compete and non- disclosure provision. During his time with Orthofix, Hunter developed relationships with doctors and acquired valuable information about their “schedules, prescribing habits, and preferred brands of this product”. …show more content…
After several different interpretation of what is defined as “breach of contract” and “non-disclosure” laws in the state of Texas, they were able to demonstrate a breach in his employment contract, which was originally misinterpreted by the court. The judgement of the district court was reversed and remanded for recalculation of punitive damages and further proceedings to coincide with this opinion.
In this case, I am in favor in employees signing employment agreements. An employee non-disclosure/non-compete agreement provides restrictions and guidelines designed to protect proprietary employer information and/or information relating to the company an employee may learn during the course of his employment.The agreement also sets forth the period of time an ex-employee must wait before he can work for or start a competing company. It also provides a
Scalise 3 time period a former employee must wait before recruiting employees from, or soliciting customers of, his former employer. In my career, I’ve personally have been required to sign non-disclosure and non-compete provisions. It negates future legal issues and litigation.
Businesses should protect their customer lists, financials, competitive edge of products
Orthofix, Hunter signed an employment agreement that contained both a non-compete and non- disclosure provision. During his time with Orthofix, Hunter developed relationships with doctors and acquired valuable information about their “schedules, prescribing habits, and preferred brands of this product”. …show more content…
After several different interpretation of what is defined as “breach of contract” and “non-disclosure” laws in the state of Texas, they were able to demonstrate a breach in his employment contract, which was originally misinterpreted by the court. The judgement of the district court was reversed and remanded for recalculation of punitive damages and further proceedings to coincide with this opinion.
In this case, I am in favor in employees signing employment agreements. An employee non-disclosure/non-compete agreement provides restrictions and guidelines designed to protect proprietary employer information and/or information relating to the company an employee may learn during the course of his employment.The agreement also sets forth the period of time an ex-employee must wait before he can work for or start a competing company. It also provides a
Scalise 3 time period a former employee must wait before recruiting employees from, or soliciting customers of, his former employer. In my career, I’ve personally have been required to sign non-disclosure and non-compete provisions. It negates future legal issues and litigation.
Businesses should protect their customer lists, financials, competitive edge of products