BRUCE A. HYDE, Plaintiff-Counter-Defendant-Appellee, v. KLS PROFESSIONAL ADVISORS GROUP, LLC, Defendant-Counter-Claimant-Appellant., 500 Fed. Appx. 24

Summary

The restrictive covenant prohibited the former employee from contacting any of the former employer's past, present, or potential clients for three years following his termination, regardless of the reason for his departure from the former employer. The covenant also forbade the former employee indefinitely from disclosing the former employer's client list. The district court determined that the former employee had demonstrated that the restrictions inhibited his ability to find a new job and had therefore satisfied the irreparable harm requirement. The appellate court determined that a preliminary injunction was inappropriate because the former employee failed to establish irreparable injury since (1) difficulty in obtaining a job was undoubtedly an injury, but it was not an irreparable one since monetary damages would compensate him adequately for his financial harms, and (2) regarding the loss of client relationships, the clients did not belong to him, and he presented no evidence ...