Arkansas court refuses to enforce overbroad non-compete

Sometimes it can seem so tempting to draft the broadest possible non-competition provision, but a recent case out of the Western District of Arkansas, Foster Cable Services v. Deville, Case No. 1:18-cv-1049, reminds us of why that can be dangerous.

In the case, Deville, a former employee, had signed a contract that classified "all information" given to Deville by the plaintiff as a trade secret and/or confidential, with no time or geographical limitations. Deville left the plaintiff's employment and the plaintiff sued that Deville had breached his employment agreement because he had disclosed confidential information to his new employer. 

The court agreed with Deville's contention that the agreement he signed was unenforceable. The contract prohibited Deville from disclosing any information he learned while employed by the plaintiff, forever. The court found this unreasonable. Covenants not to compete should be reasonably drawn to protect genuine confidential information, whereas this agreement was broad enough to cover all experience and knowledge that Deville gained during his employment, forever. Therefore, the court refused to enforce it as an unreasonable restraint on trade.