New Jersey Employment Lawyers Blog
Employees are often unable to defend themselves against employers attempting to restrain their post-employment business activities through non-compete agreements. While employers can sometimes show they have a protectable interest in restraining a former employee’s post-employment business activities, it has become far too common that employers inappropriately use restrictive covenants against former employees who simply cannot afford to defend themselves in an expensive commercial litigation. These employees are often left with no recourse and have no choice but to cave to their former employer’s unreasonable and anti-competitive demands.
Two recent New Jersey cases provide hope and a roadmap to fight against employers who unfairly attempt to use non-compete agreements to the detriment of the former employee and their ability to make a living. Both cases illustrate that there are ways to fight back against employers who attempt to use non-compete agreements to restrain competition and retaliate against their former employees.
The first case, Abuaysha v. Shapiro Spa LLC, et al., Docket No.: BER-L-988-18, was brought by our firm, Smith Eibeler on behalf of a terminated employee. This case involves a former massage therapist who filed an emergent Order to Show Cause against her former employer to be relieved of her non-compete agreement after she alleged unlawful termination from her employment. Specifically, the plaintiff alleged that she was unlawfully fired in retaliation for leaving work and taking leave in order in order to get medical treatment after being told that she may have contracted the shingles virus from a client upon whom she had just performed a massage. The plaintiff alleged that she told her supervisor that she needed to leave work to get medical treatment to make sure she did not have shingles and that she would not perform any further massages until a doctor cleared her to return to work. The employer terminated her when she returned to work after a few days of leave.