New Jersey may be next up to join the growing number of states that significantly restrict the use of non-competition agreements in employment. As we discussed back in December 2017, a bill proposed in New Jersey at the time, Senate Bill 3518, would “impose significant restrictions and limitations” on the use of restrictive covenants in … Continue Reading
Do employees in New Jersey owe a duty of loyalty to employers, even without a written employment agreement? Eliminating any possible doubt, the New Jersey Appellate Division answered, emphatically, yes. In Technology Dynamics, Inc. d/b/a Nova Battery Systems v. Emerging Power, Inc. et al., Docket No. A-0952-17T3 (N.J. Sup. Ct. – App. Div. Feb. 26, 2019), … Continue Reading
In the midst of a federal effort to ramp up antitrust prosecutions of companies agreeing not to recruit or hire each other’s employees (see previous articles dated November 9, 2016, January 25, 2018, April 25, 2018 and July 17, 2018), special scrutiny – and criticism – has been directed toward the use of no-poach agreements … Continue Reading
A bill in the New Jersey Senate, Senate Bill 3518 (“SB 3518”), and an identical companion bill in the New Jersey Assembly (Assembly Bill 5261), would significantly curtail the use of non-compete agreements in New Jersey. In an article posted on our website, Cliff Atlas, Kevin Miller and Colin Thakkar analyze SB 3518 and pose … Continue Reading
A New Jersey state court judge has allowed a $10 million jury verdict to stand in favor of biotech firm GenScript USA in its trade secret and employee piracy claims against competitor, Genewiz, Inc. In October 2014, the jury had entered a multi-million dollar verdict in GenScript’s favor following a six-week trial. The jury found … Continue Reading
A recent decision from the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey highlights the perils of delay before applying for injunctive relief. In PTT, LLC v. Gimme Games, et al. No. 13-7161 (JLL/JAD), PTT, a slot machine developer, sued competitor Gimme Games and former PTT executives who started Gimme Games, for misappropriation, … Continue Reading
Our colleague Jason C. Gavejian has written about an interesting case in New Jersey involving the criminal prosecution of an employee who took highly confidential documents from her employer to support her employment discrimination suit. The decision distinguishes a 2010 New Jersey Supreme Court ruling in which the court held that an employee who copied employer records for use in … Continue Reading
A New Jersey federal court recently granted a defendant-company’s motion to compel arbitration pursuant to a non-compete agreement between the plaintiff-company and two former employees who had discontinued employment with the plaintiff and went to work for the defendant. The case is Precision Funding Group, LLC v. National Fidelity Mortgage, Civ. No. 12-5054 (RMB/JS), 2013 U.S. … Continue Reading
An article recently posted on the Jackson Lewis website describes a bill introduced in the New Jersey State Assembly that would invalidate non-compete, non-disclosure, and non-solicitation agreements for former employees who are eligible for unemployment benefits. A similar proposal is under consideration in Maryland. We will continue to monitor this topic.… Continue Reading
