The number of people working from home, or
"telecommuting," has increased over time, with Census
data showing that 17 percent of American employees do their jobs
remotely. When someone is working very far from the
office, even out-of-state, to what extent can an employer enforce
non-compete obligations against employees who leave their
jobs? Last month, a federal district court in Pennsylvania
concluded that some but not all of a non-compete agreement's
restrictions were enforceable in this situation.
The case, Capsicum Group, LLC v. Rosenthal, involved two
telecommuting e-discovery workers named Garry Pate and Brian
Rosenthal. Pate and Rosenthal worked for Capsicum Group LLC,
a digital forensics and e-discovery vendor. When Capsicum
hired them in 2008 and 2009, respectively, it had each sign
employment agreements that contained six restrictive covenants
limiting their use and disclosure of Capsicum confidential
information, and barring them from soliciting
