Amid the recent backlash to restrictive covenants across the country, a Georgia Court of Appeals has held that employee non-solicitation provisions must include a geographic limit to be enforceable. North American Senior Benefits v. Wimmer, No. A23A0162 (June 13, 2023).
In Georgia, restrictive covenants were governed by common law until 2011. Georgia common law was generally hostile to restrictive covenants but was more permissive of anti-raiding restrictions such as employee non-solicitation provisions.
In 2011, Georgia’s passage of the Restrictive Covenants Act (RCA) made enforcement of valid restrictive covenants easier than it had been before. The RCA found that valid restrictive covenants serve a legitimate purpose of “protecting legitimate business interests and creating an environment” favorable to attracting and retaining commercial enterprises in the state.
While the RCA made enforcement of valid covenants easier, it also limited the scope of which restrictive covenants are valid. The RCA requires that, to be enforceable, a contract provision that restricts competition must include reasonable limits in time, geographic area, and scope of prohibited activities.
The RCA exempts customer non-solicitation provisions and restrictions on use or disclosure of confidential information from this requirement. However, the statute is silent on employee non-solicitation provisions. Thus, it remained unclear if employee...
President Donald Trump made numerous false claims in his rambling Wednesday speech at the Republican midterm convention. Trump repeated long-debunked lies about elections and immigration. He deliv...