News & Analysis as of

Employment Contract Fiduciary Duty

DRI

Non-Compete Clauses and Professional Liability

DRI on

Non-compete provisions have long been viewed by employers as reasonable and appropriate velvet handcuffs on departing employees and as an unfair burden on competition by the departing employees. The purpose of non-compete...more

Amundsen Davis LLC

Holiday Reminder: Protect Your Business in “Restrictive Covenant Season”!

Amundsen Davis LLC on

Early in the New Year we often see employees switching jobs, which can trigger disputes over restrictive covenants in their employment agreements. As 2023 draws to a close, here are some things to keep in mind to protect your...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

At-Will Employment Agreement Plus Mandatory Redemption Clause Leaves Minority Shareholder-Employees Out in the Cold

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

MiniCorp has five shareholders, all of whom are employees.  Each shareholder’s employment agreement states that they are an at-will employee of MiniCorp, and the shareholders agreement provides that when a shareholder’s...more

ArentFox Schiff

Fourth Circuit: Employers Can Enforce Fiduciary Duty Claims Against Employees Competing For New Contract

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In a case involving government contracts, the Fourth Circuit held that a company could proceed with its claims against three former employees for actions they took as employees – through their newly formed company - to pursue...more

Allen Matkins

Choice Of Law And Holding Companies

Allen Matkins on

Tulane Law School Professor Ann M. Lipton at Tulane Law School begins her forthcoming, Inside Out (or, One State to Rule them All): New Challenges to the Internal Affairs Doctrine, by quoting Delaware Vice Chancellor J....more

Proskauer - Employee Benefits & Executive...

Sixth Circuit Rejects Arbitration for Proposed Fiduciary Breach Class Action

The Sixth Circuit, in a matter of first impression for that Circuit, held an arbitration clause contained in an individual employment agreement did not apply to ERISA fiduciary breach claims brought on behalf of a defined...more

Miller Canfield

Arbitration of Fiduciary Breach Claim Cannot Be Compelled by Relying on Individual Employment Agreements

Miller Canfield on

In Hawkins, et al. v. Cintas Corp., No. 21-3156, __ F.4d __ (2022), plaintiffs brought a class action pursuant to Section 502(a)(2) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), alleging that their former employer...more

A&O Shearman

Where an Employee Makes Secret Profits: Extending the Net of Persons Liable

A&O Shearman on

In Sumifru Singapore Pte Ltd v Felix Santos Ishizuka (2022), the Singapore High Court found that where an employee is placed in a position of trust they will owe fiduciary duties to their employer (similar to the duties owed...more

Littler

Are ERISA Breach of Fiduciary Duty Claims Arbitrable?

Littler on

Over the years, attempts to arbitrate breach of fiduciary duty claims under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) Section 502(a)(2) have had varying results.  One court recently recognized that “whether any...more

Littler

Ontario, Canada Court Reminds Employers that Improperly Drafted Restrictive Covenants are Unenforceable

Littler on

In Labrador Recycling Inc. v. Folino, 2021 ONSC 2195 (Labrador Recycling), Ontario’s Superior Court denied an employer’s motion for an urgent injunction to restrain its former employee from competing with it contrary to the...more

Holland & Knight LLP

Courts Split on Class Action Waivers, Arbitration Provisions in ERISA Litigation

Holland & Knight LLP on

Courts have struggled through the years when considering the enforceability of mandatory class action waivers and arbitration provisions contained within Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) plans and other...more

Morgan Lewis - ML Benefits

401(k) Fiduciary Breach Claims Not Subject to Arbitration, Second Circuit Decides

Reversing a lower court’s decision, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued an opinion in Cooper v. DST Systems, Inc., et al., finding that an arbitration agreement signed by an employee as part of his...more

Proskauer - Employee Benefits & Executive...

Second Circuit Rules ERISA Fiduciary-Breach Claims Are Outside the Scope of General Employment Arbitration Agreement

In response to the deluge of ERISA class action breach of fiduciary duty claims, plan sponsors and fiduciaries have increasingly sought to compel individual arbitration of such claims pursuant to arbitration clauses in...more

Gray Reed

Where Am I and How Did I Get Here (In This Venue)?

Gray Reed on

In June 2019, David Dunwoody (“Dunwoody”) left his position as President of EnVen Energy Corporation (“EnVen”) amidst a scandal centering around his alleged involvement in a kickback scheme.  Dunwoody sued EnVen, the oil...more

FordHarrison

Non-Compete News: Georgia Court Holds Contractor Owes Fiduciary Duty/Duty of Loyalty

FordHarrison on

In late 2019, the Northern District of Georgia (Atlanta federal court) addressed the duties owed when an independent contractor leaves one trucking company to work for another. In Wind Logistics Prof’l v. Universal Truckload,...more

Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP

Commercial Division Applies Noerr-Pennington Doctrine to Dismiss Claim for Unlawful Retaliation

In Pozner v. Fox Broadcasting Co., Justice Saliann Scarpulla of the Commercial Division dismissed plaintiff Cliff Pozner’s (“Pozner”) retaliation claim, which alleged that counterclaims filed against him by defendant Fox...more

Epstein Becker & Green

Enforcing Non-Solicitation Agreements Against Financial Professionals: A Court Finds Financial Professionals Have a Duty to Notify...

Epstein Becker & Green on

A recent decision in Edward D. Jones & Co., LP v. John Kerr (S.D.In. 19-cv-03810 Nov. 14, 2019), illustrates the unique challenges that broker-dealers may face when enforcing post-employment covenants that prohibit former...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Advance! Amend! Retreat!

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

The title of this post describes not an army maneuver, but the outcome of a recent lawsuit in Delaware Chancery Court for advancement of litigation expenses in which...more

Littler

Striking Down Decades-Old Precedent, Ninth Circuit Rules That ERISA Breach of Fiduciary Duty Claims May Be Arbitrated

Littler on

On August 20, 2019, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued an opinion in Dorman v. Charles Schwab Corp., overturning its 1984 position in Amaro v. Continental Can Co. that lawsuits filed...more

Adler Pollock & Sheehan P.C.

Noncompetes with Massachusetts Employees: Subsidizing a Former Employee’s “Garden Leave”

Effective October 1, 2018, employers in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and other states seeking to hold Massachusetts employees to noncompete agreements must meet the requirements of a new law passed by the Massachusetts...more

Shook, Hardy & Bacon L.L.P.

Zillow Sues Rival Compass Alleging IP Theft And Breach Of Contract Over Its Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, And Cloud...

Switching from defense to offense, Zillow Group, Inc., best known for its residential real estate marketplace technology, recently filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington alleging a...more

Winstead PC

Federal District Court Refuses To Dismiss Aiding And Abetting Breach Of Fiduciary Duty Claim Against A Law Firm

Winstead PC on

In Milligan v. Salamone, the Greenberg Taurig lawfirm represented the bankrupt company when it sued a president and board member. No. 1:18-CV-327-RP, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 41009 (W.D. Tex. March 14, 2019). Greenberg drafted...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

2019 Compensation Committee Handbook

The duties imposed on compensation committees of publicly traded companies have evolved and grown over time. The fifth edition of the Compensation Committee Handbook, authored by our Executive Compensation and Benefits Group,...more

Sunstein LLP

August 2018 IP Update - Non-Competition Agreements: Massachusetts Meets California Halfway

Sunstein LLP on

California has long led the nation in its disdain for noncompetition agreements. Pressed by venture capitalists who believe that this gives California an advantage over other states, the Massachusetts legislature has finally...more

Robinson+Cole ERISA Claim Defense Blog

Ninth Circuit Holds That Employees’ ERISA Breach of Fiduciary Duty Claim Against Their Employer is Not Subject to the Mandatory...

In Munro v. University of Southern California, No. 17-55550, 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 20522 (9th Cir. July 24, 2018), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that employees alleging an ERISA breach of fiduciary duty...more

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