Since the passage of the Georgia Restrictive Covenants Act
(O.C.G.A. § 13-8-50 et seq.) in May 2011, there has been some
level of uncertainty regarding the extent to which a court may
“blue pencil” or modify an otherwise unenforceable
covenant, including whether a court may extend the restrictions
period of a post-May 2011 noncompete agreement. With the recent
decision in
Daneshgari v. Patriot Towing Services, LLC, employers
have a bit more clarity, but with some remaining uncertainty, as
the Court of Appeals of Georgia held that a trial court erred in
extending an injunction beyond the contractual expiration of the
term of a noncompete agreement.
Background
Patriot Towing Services (PTS) purchased the assets of a towing
company owned and operated by Khosrow Daneshgari on June 23, 2016.
As part of the purchase agreement, the parties entered into a
“Non-Competition, Non-Disclosure, and Non-Solicitation
Agreement” containing a noncompete provision with
