On February 25, 2022, the Wyoming Supreme Court issued a decision prohibiting courts from revising, or “blue penciling,” noncompete agreements to be reasonable and enforceable under the law. The decision overrules the Wyoming Supreme Court’s prior holdings on the issue and changes the landscape for employers drafting and enforcing Wyoming noncompete agreements.
In Hassler v. Circle C Resources, the Wyoming Supreme Court overruled Hopper v. All Pet Animal Clinic, Inc., which adopted the “liberal blue pencil rule” and authorized courts to narrow the terms of noncompete agreements to render them enforceable under Wyoming law. In overruling Hopper, the supreme court noted that public policy and “established black letter rules of contract interpretation” supported its decision to prohibit employers from requesting that the court revise noncompetes that are otherwise unenforceable.
Circle C Resources, Charlene Hassler’s employer, sought to enforce the noncompete aspects of its “Confidentiality and Noncompetition Agreement.” In relevant part, the noncompete restricted Hassler from competing with the employer for “24 months after” the end of her employment “in any geographic area in which [the] employer markets or has marketed its services during the year preceding separation from employment.”
During her employment, Hassler was a certified nursing assistant providing home health services to a nonverbal client who required full-time habilitation care. In 2017, the...
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