In line with the national trend making noncompetes more difficult to enforce, a number of Delaware courts have recently refused to “blue pencil” overbroad noncompetition agreements and have stricken them in their entirety. As a practical matter, this means that, in order for a noncompete to be enforceable under Delaware law (the chosen law for many business disputes for companies outside of Delaware), they must be narrowly drafted to be reasonable in scope and designed to protect only the employer’s legitimate business interests. Employees with noncompetes under Delaware law can no longer rely on Delaware courts to “blue pencil” a noncompete to make it enforceable. Thus, as discussed herein, noncompete agreements should be drafted to comply with the specific guidance that Delaware courts have provided, most recently in the Delaware Supreme Court’s decision in Sunder Energy, LLC v. Jackson, C. A. 455 (Del. Dec. 10, 2024).
In Sunder Energy, the plaintiff sought to enforce a noncompete against one of its former founders who went to work for a competitor. The noncompete was deemed overly broad in that it prohibited the former founder and his “affiliates” from engaging in door-to-door sales activities in the market where the former employer operated or anticipated operating. The Delaware Court of Chancery held that the noncompete was...
A simmering dispute between a Live Oak businessman and the city’s police department continues to escalate. Newly released body-worn camera footage showed a Live Oak police officer who made a serie...