Though a recent trade secret case out of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Southern Division, turned out well for the plaintiff employer, there are lessons to be learned about business competition, says Jason Shinn in a recent post. Namely, ask high-level employees to sign a noncompete agreement before giving them “keys to the employer’s kingdom.”
The employer “lucked out” in this case, as the employees started their own competing business while still employed with the plaintiff. But Shinn says in the past Michigan courts “have refused to find liability in the absence of a noncompete restriction against former employees for ‘unfair competition’ style claims for planning to start a competing business.”
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