In a recent decision, a Georgia appellate panel held that an employee nonsolicitation covenant that limits what parties can do following the end of a business relationship must have an explicit geographic limitation to be enforceable under state law.

Quick Hits

• A panel of the Georgia Court of Appeals ruled that a restrictive covenant prohibiting former employees from soliciting or recruiting employees of their former employer was not enforceable without an explicit geographic limitation.

• The appellate court refused to modify the contract to make it enforceable or find that a geographic limitation was implied.

• The ruling could have significant implications for Georgia employers as it required an explicit description of a covenant’s geographic reach for it to be enforceable.

On June 23, 2023, a panel for the Georgia Court of Appeals found that a restrictive covenant that prohibited former employees from soliciting or recruiting employees of the former employer was not enforceable under Georgia’s Restrictive Covenants Act because it lacked an explicit geographic limitation and because the act does not authorize courts to read a limitation into such a covenant to make it enforceable.

At issue in the case, North American Senior Benefits, LLC v. Wimmer, was a restrictive covenant between Alisha and Ryan Wimmer and their former employer North American Senior Benefits, LLC (NASB), an independent insurance marketing organization. The covenant restricted the Wimmers, who...

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