Some defendants in a suit over alleged breaches of an employment noncompete clause will be tried in New Jersey and others in California under a precedential ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit Tuesday.

The appeals court in In Re: Howmedica Osteonics overturned an order transferring the entire case to the Northern District of California, finding the move violated the 2013 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Atlantic Marine Construction v. U.S. District Court. That ruling calls for judges to honor forum selection clauses under most circumstances.

The appeals court ruled that five individual defendants should be tried in New Jersey because they agreed to forum selection clauses in their employment contracts. Their case was severed from two corporate defendants, whose cases will be heard in the Northern District of California.