All-Star Non-compete Agreements (what Do They Mean/what Are They Worth?)

[John Butler]

Florida law does allow a NC rigt to work or not. It has to be signed and of reasonable terms.

C. The 1996 Amendment to The Florida Anti Trust Act

Currently any Florida employer who wishes to draft an effective covenant to prevent an employee from competing with it or using the employer’s confidential information to benefit another enterprise must now do so with reference to F.S.§542.335. Effective on July 1, 1996, F.S.§542.332 was repealed and the 1996 amendment took effect. The repeal was prospective only. Enforcement of prior non-compete agreements will be based on the law in effect on the date they were entered
into.

The 1996 amendment retains much that is in the prior statutes and the case law interpreting them, while setting forth some more specific standards for enforcement. The new statute specifically requires the covenant to be in writing and signed by the person against whom enforcement is sought. The requirement of reasonableness as to time and area is retained, with requirement of reasonableness as to line of business specifically included. Any restriction of six months or less against a former employee’s competing with the employer is presumed reasonable and any restriction of more than two years is presumed unreasonable. Restrictions "... predicated on the protection of trade secrets" are presumed to be reasonable if they are of five year or less duration and unreasonable if they exceed ten years. These are rebuttable presumptions which can be overridden by evidence showing lack of reasonableness.

More about Florida NC

http://www.floridamediation.com/art...ployee_non-compete_agreements_in_florida.html

I can not see a NC standing up in any way for a coach going to a new gym, with exception to one thing, if the coach himself opened the new gym directly or if there was a violation of a recruiting clause which would have to be included. Remember that a non compete is to prevent direct competition. It would be a difficult arguement to make with a reasonable defense that a coach, by going to another gym to coach, is directly competing against the business he left behind. You would have to prove financial gain to the new gym, which again would be difficult only due to a new coach.

I can tell you that I am involved in the legal field for a finance company, and even our non competes generally do not stand up in court. It is difficult and costly to prove, unless confidential information benefited the new company. Again, for the most part, there's not a whole lot in the way of confidential information that could negatively affect a gyms financial success that could be shared by a coach switching gyms. IMHO, it would be an easy case to defend.

 

[INeverStopCheering]

My question is what does an NC do FOR the employee? I mean basically all it is doing is protecting the Owner. Why would an employee sign one with no benefit to them?

It does nothing for them at all. The reason people sign them is because their employment in contingent upon it