Chicago Business Litigation Lawyer Blog
Running a nation-wide business here in the U.S. is almost as complicated as running an international business. With varying laws and restrictions between each city, county, and state, businesses need to make sure each of their locations is working in accordance with all the relevant business and labor laws governing that location.
But according to a recent lawsuit filed against Brown & Saenger, Inc., the South Dakota-based company allegedly tried to get around the need to abide by other states’ labor laws by specifying that all legal disputes were to be handled in South Dakota state court, under South Dakota law. The problem with that turned out to be North Dakota’s laws prohibiting non-compete and non-solicitation clauses in employment contracts.
The lawsuit involved a sales representative who worked for Brown & Saenger in their Fargo, North Dakota location and whose employment contract included both a non-compete agreement and a non-solicitation agreement in violation of North Dakota law. The contract also specified that it was to be held liable under South Dakota law, and in the event of a dispute over the contract, the parties would argue their cases in South Dakota court. Continue reading ›