Chicago Business Litigation Lawyer Blog
Peter Lubin Named to Super Lawyers;
Only 5% of Illinois Lawyers Receive This Distinction
Non-Compete Agreement Invalidated By Federal Court For Being Too Broad
Legal documents are known for being long and boring. They’re usually good for curing insomnia, but there is a reason for their length and detailed legal language. A good contract should prohibit all undesirable behavior without being too broad. For example, non-compete agreements, which are often included in employment contracts, are provided by the employer to prevent the worker from taking trade secrets and/or clients to a competing company.
Most non-compete agreements are restricted in time (usually six months to a year after employment ends) and geography (within a certain number of miles of the employer, or to a particular state or country). Noncompete agreements that extend too far in time or space risk being considered unenforceable in a court of law.
NanoMech, Inc. is a nanotechnology company that specializes in lubrication, energy, biomedical coatings, and strategic military applications. They attempted to write a noncompete agreement for their employees that was simple and straightforward. It read: “The Employee agrees that during the term of this Agreement, and for two (2) years following termination of this agreement by the Company, with or without cause; or, for a period of two (2) years following a termination of this Agreement by the Employee, the Employee will not directly or indirectly enter into, be employed by or consult in any business which competes with the Company.” Continue reading ›
Bayer Sued in Class Action for Alleged False Brain Power Enhancement Claims for Flintstones Vitamins Containing DHA
New science is always coming out to tout the benefits of this or that new drug or supplement. Recently, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) has been touted as instrumental for maintaining a healthy brain. DHA is an omega-3 fatty acid that constitutes a primary structural component of the human brain, as well as other vital organs. As a result, drug companies have started including it in their supplements and advertising their products as having the ability to boost brain health and performance based on their inclusion of DHA.
For example, Bayer Healthcare allegedly advertised their Flintstones Healthy Brain Support Gummies as improving brain function because the gummies contain Omega-3 DHA. Liza Gershman has filed a class action consumer lawsuit against Bayer alleging there is no scientific evidence to support the assertion that DHA improves brain function. To back up this claim, Gershman sites five studies that found no significant difference between a placebo and DHA derived from algae (the same form of DHA used in Bayer’s supplements) on cognitive function. Continue reading ›
Customer and Employee Non-Solicitation Agreements Are Not Uneforceable Federal Court Rules
A non-solicitation covenant is extremely helpful when it comes to protecting valuable business information when a company has expended substantial amounts to build a stable work force and has invested in developing permanent relationships or very long term relationships with its customers with long term contracts. The Court in Instant Tech., LLC v. DeFazio, 12 C 491, 2014 WL 1759184 (N.D. Ill. May 2, 2014) recently addressed the enforceability of non-solicitation covenants of former employees of an information technology company. The non-solicitation agreements barred soliciting customers to go to a competitor as well as employees of the IT staffing company.
Not to be confused with a non-compete agreement, non-solicitation covenants do not put a restriction on one’s ability to practice their trade or prohibit them from pursuing their chosen profession, as a restrictive covenant would. In this case, the definition of a client versus a candidate is where the Court draws the line when determining whether a violation the non-solicitation covenant occurred. Continue reading ›
Our Chicago Class Action Attorneys are Looking to Speak with Alleged Victims of Alleged Supplement Scam Who Purchased Supplements From Walgreens — NY Attorney General Investigates Alleged Supplement Scam
The federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has strict standards for prescription drugs before they can be sold to the public. They must undergo rigorous testing to validate their ingredients and effectiveness before being allowed to go to market.
Not everyone wants to take prescription drugs though. Many people prefer to first try natural alternatives, and that often includes supplements. Other people use supplements simply to make sure they are getting enough of the proper nutrients if they think their diet might be lacking. Either way, there’s plenty of money to be made in the supplements industry, and that opportunity, coupled with a lack of regulations, creates a strong temptation for some manufacturers to cheat.
When there’s big money to be made, there are usually people in place to make sure nothing interferes. Senator Orrin G. Hatch, for example, was a sponsor and chief architect of the 1994 law exempting supplements from the FDA’s strict approval process used for prescription drugs. Hatch has accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from the supplement industry and repeatedly intervened in Washington against proposed legislation that would put in place more stringent rules regarding supplements. Continue reading ›
Supreme Court Hears Oral Argument on First Amendment Rights Relating to Social Media and Internet Publications — Top Chicago Libel Lawyer Near Hinsdale
The first amendment to our constitution provides us with an invaluable protection to say anything we want – or at least almost anything we want. Judges and attorneys frequently have to balance the rights granted by the first amendment with their duty to protect citizens of the United States. In certain instances, such as injurious false statements (defamation) or threats, protecting individual citizens takes priority over the right to free speech. Defining that line is something courts continue to struggle with.
In one lawsuit currently being argued before the Supreme Court, Anthony Elonis faces the possibility of jail time for posting violent song lyrics about his wife and children on the Internet. Elonis posted these lyrics under the rap persona of Tone Dougie, but he did not keep his true identity a secret. Continue reading ›
Lawyers Are Specializing in Assisting Students Accused of Sexual Assault on Campus
Statutes intended to protect one group of citizens can sometimes be applied to another group. Title IX, for example, is a federal statute that was designed to promote gender equality by protecting women. However, in one recent lawsuit against Columbia University, a male student is suing the university for discrimination under Title IX.
At issue is an evening in which the student had sex with a female freshman at the university. He says it was consensual. She says otherwise. The university suspended him for one year, an outcome that he claims was unjust.
He hired Andrew Miltenberg, a Manhattan attorney who has taken on the cases of the accused in numerous instances of alleged sexual assault. Despite the fact that representing the accused in such a situation is far from popular, Miltenberg insists that those accused are not always given access to the rights under the law. According to Miltenberg, as a defendant in one of these cases, “You got factual statements made that you’re not necessarily allowed to review and you’re certainly now allowed to have copies of. … You may or may not be able to present your witnesses. You probably don’t have the chance to cross-examine.”
There’s no doubt that this is a very delicate issue and remaining fair to all parties involved can be extremely difficult. After decades of women accusing colleges and universities of not being harsh enough on those who commit sexual assault, now there are groups saying they have gone too far in the other direction and have begun discriminating against men. Continue reading ›
Coca Cola Settles California Unpaid Overtime Class Action
When an employee starts with a company, the employment agreement usually includes a certain number of paid sick and vacation days, in addition to salary and health care benefits. That constitutes a promise from the employer to provide that salary and those benefits to the employee. If the employee does not use all of her sick days or vacation days, she is still entitled to be compensated for them.
A recent class action wage and hour lawsuit filed against Coca-Cola in California, alleges that the soft drink company had a “use it or lose it” vacation policy, in which employees were not paid for any vacation time they did not take. According to the recent lawsuit, such practices are illegal under California labor law. Coca-Cola argues it has already revised its vacation policy and paid out all earned, unused vacation time dating back to 2008.
The lawsuit further alleges that Coca-Cola refused to pay employees for time spent driving between job sites during the day, including driving to the first job site of the day and driving home from the last job site of the day. According to the lawsuit, employees were driving Coca-Cola vans during these commutes. Continue reading ›
Class Action Brought Against Utility for Alleged Bait and Switch Tactics
Luring customers in with low rates, only to raise those rates once the customer has been acquired, is a common tactic known as bait-and-switch. It is particularly effective in hooking low-income and elderly customers who have a fixed budget because they are most often the people who are on the lookout for the best deal. Unfortunately, when a deal seems like it might be too good to be true, the sad fact is that it usually is.
When ComEd announced earlier this year that it would be raising its rates by 21 percent, the number of people looking for a deal jumped dramatically. Unfortunately, many companies took advantage of this jump by promising low rates. However, because many of these companies are unregulated, they can raise their rates later by as much as they want, when they want. They don’t even have to provide their customers with an explanation for the raise in rates.
ComEd’s rates recently went up from 5.5 cents per kilowatt-hour to 7.6 cents per kilowatt-hour. A kilowatt-hour is the amount of energy required to power a medium-sized window AC unit for one hour. The average ComEd customer uses 655 kilowatt-hours per month. Despite Starion’s claims that customers can save money by switching to Starion Energy, Starion’s average rate is allegedly 13 cents per kilowatt-hour, almost double ComEd’s price. Continue reading ›
Legit Enough to Quit? Restrictive Covenants and Legitimate Business Interests
Legit Enough to Quit?
Restrictive Covenants and Legitimate Business Interests
As means of protecting ones business, it may seem that a restrictive covenant is one of the most secure. However, a restrictive covenant does not always provide the magnitude of protection wanted by those who enter into such an agreement. A three prong test of reasonableness must be satisfied. The covenant must serve a legitimate business interest, it must not impose an undue hardship and it must not be injurious to the public. Without a legitimate business interest, a restrictive covenant may not be enforceable.
A prime example of the necessity of a legitimate business interest to sustain a restrictive covenant can be seen in Gastroenterology Consultants of North Shore, S.C. v. Meiselman, 2013 IL App (1st) 123692, 989 N.E.2d 1126 appeal denied, 996 N.E.2d 12 (Ill. 2013). To achieve such a result, the company enforcing the non-solicitation agreement must demonstrate a legitimate business interest exists for such an agreement.
The Court takes a close look at the enforceability of a restrictive covenant when a doctor enters into such an agreement upon Plaintiff and later decides to take his professional work elsewhere. Plaintiffs try to enforce their restrictive covenant; however, the Court determines that the absence of a “legitimate business interest” renders the covenant unenforceable. Continue reading ›