Non-Compete Found So Overbroad As To Be Unenforceable And Unfixable

Recently, a former employer sought injunctive relief against a former executive whom it claimed had violated his Employee Confidentiality/Non-Compete Agreement by accepting employment with a direct competitor and supposedly failing to return its confidential information. The Court denied the motion for temporary restraining order and refused to set a preliminary injunction hearing. The Court later granted the former employee’s motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim, finding the non-compete to be unenforceable and not subject to “blue penciling.” In short, the Court held that even a non-compete which is reasonable in time and geographic scope will be unenforceable if it prohibits work in any capacity for a company in the same business, and that Illinois courts may not rewrite a non-compete which is “patently unfair” in scope of activity. Medix Staffing Solutions, Inc. v. Daniel Dumrauf, No. 17-CV-6648, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 64813, 2018 WL 1859039 (N.D. Ill. Apr.