Courts continue to wrestle with the issue of whether a company has a legitimate business interest in enforcing a post-employment non-compete when it fires an employee without cause. Last September this Blog discussed Missett v. Hub International Pennsylvania, LLC, in which the Pennsylvania Superior Court explained that “the circumstances of termination are, alone, not determinative of whether the restrictive covenant is enforceable….” See You're Fired!! And Don't Forget Your Non-Compete! In its September 2010 decision, the Pennsylvania court backed away from a bright line rule of unenforceability that had been read into two of its earlier opinions. Over the years, other courts have weighed in with varying pronouncements. Recently, however, relying in part on one of the much earlier decisions from the Pennsylvania Superior Court (the 1994 decision in Insulation Corp. of America v. Brobston), the Montana Supreme Court appears to have renewed the bright line of unenforceability in cases of involuntary termination without cause. On November 22, 2011, the Montana Supreme Court in Wrigg v Junkermeir, Clark, Campanella, Stevens, P.C., concluded “an employer normally lacks a legitimate business interest in a covenant when it chooses to end the employment relationship.”
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