Here are some thoughts for employees and employers to consider with respect to the quirky history and shifting winds pertaining to non-competition agreements in Connecticut and New York.
As things currently stand, courts in NY and CT generally enforce non-competes when they protect a trade secret, confidential business information, or customer relationships, and when the restriction is reasonable in terms of duration, geographic scope, the restraint on the employee, the fairness of protections provided the employer, and protection of “public interests.” A court’s consideration of a non-compete will ordinarily consider all the unique facts surrounding whether a non-compete is fair and reasonable.
Every lawyer who knows that “as a rule” means there are exceptions and wrinkles. And the question for employers and employees in New York and Connecticut is whether hostility toward non-competes will make its way through the courts, state legislatures, or political fiat. Only a handful of states (including California) severely restrict non-competes by statute, but there are many variants of what constitutes “reasonable.”
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