Legal Question in Employment Law in Florida

I have my recently former employee asking me to remove all reference to employment with his company from , linkedin.com and my own site. (he approved these "articles" while I was employed there and even had make specific edits to them). He does not want to pay me to make these edits.

In addition he has a non disclose agreement that he says prevents me from disclosing any of the web sites I created for him in the last year.

In addition he says that the non compete agreement prevents me from doing web design or internet marketing for 5 years because it was a "major business activity". He sells lumber, I'm a web designer.

In addition these agreements that I did sign at time of hire start with the phrase "In good consideration for" I was expecting a severance package for my cooperation. There was non, in fact he wants me to do a little work for free and never mention what I've been working on for the last year. I can't get a job that way, and find that since I left due to his actions, I do not wish to do any we design for him for free.


Asked on 2/25/10, 5:11 am

2 Answers from Attorneys

Sarah Grosse Sarah Grosse, Esquire

You have a bit of a problem here because you signed these contracts when you were hired. People generally are free to contract for whatever they want (exceptions apply, of course). In Florida, non-compete agreements must be "reasonable" in time, geographic area and scope, and the Florida Statutes provide guidelines for what what is presumed "reasonable" and "unreasonable." Even if one provision of a non-compete is presumed unreasonable and thus unenforceable, the entire contract may not be invalid, and the court may essentially re-write the contract to make it reasonable.

In any event, no one will be able to comment on your specific situation without reading your contracts first. I strongly suggest you retain an attorney to review the contracts and advise you how to proceed. I offer a free half-hour consultation at my office in St. Pete and reasonable rates for contract review and advice.

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Answered on 3/02/10, 6:46 am
Scott Behren Behren Law Firm

You need to have a lawyer review the non compete and non disclosure agreements. Were they entered into at the time you were hired or when you left since you reference a severance situation. Feel free to call my office if you wish to discuss this matter further.

Scott Behren

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Answered on 3/02/10, 8:55 am


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