Case Name: P. David HAPNEY, Appellant, v. CENTRAL GARAGE, INC., a Florida Corporation, d/b/a Gulfcoast Auto and Automotive Accessories and Ara Tampa, Appellee
Court: Florida District Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1991-02-01
Citations: 579 So. 2d 127
Docket Number: No. 90-00475
Parties: P. David HAPNEY, Appellant, v. CENTRAL GARAGE, INC., a Florida Corporation, d/b/a Gulfcoast Auto and Automotive Accessories and Ara Tampa, Appellee.
Judges: FRANK, J., concurs.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 579
Pages: 127–141

Head Matter:
P. David HAPNEY, Appellant, v. CENTRAL GARAGE, INC., a Florida Corporation, d/b/a Gulfcoast Auto and Automotive Accessories and Ara Tampa, Appellee.
No. 90-00475.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District.
Feb. 1, 1991.
Rehearing Denied, Dissenting Opinion substituted May 15, 1991.
Thomas T. Steele of Fowler, White, Gil-len, Boggs, Villareal & Banker, P.A., Tampa, for appellant.
Philip A. McLeod, St. Petersburg, for appellee.
Editors Note: Dissenting opinion substituted for publication.

Opinion:
PATTERSON, Judge.
This case presents the following question: whether judicial review of an employee's covenant not to compete is limited to determining the covenant's reasonableness in time and area without regard to whether the covenant reasonably relates to protecting a legitimate business interest of the employer? We answer in the negative and reverse.
FACTS
Appellee Gulfcoast is a Florida corporation engaged in the installation, repair and maintenance of auto air conditioners and related auto accessories. It has facilities in Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota, and Ft. Myers, and draws customers from other surrounding areas.
Appellant Hapney is a Hillsborough County resident who, from 1981 to 1988, worked in various auto repair shops in the Tampa area where he learned to install and repair auto and truck air-conditioning systems. In 1988 he went to work for Gulf-coast.
As a condition of Hapney's employment, he entered into an "Employee Confidentiality Agreement and Covenant Not To Compete" which in pertinent part provides:
I further agree that for a period of three years following the termination of my employment I will not offer, as an agent, employee, owner, or distributor, similar products or services on behalf of a competitor of the Company on the west coast of Florida from Crystal River to Naples or inland 100 miles.
On July 14,1989, Hapney voluntarily terminated his employment and began working for a direct competitor of Gulfcoast.
On August 1, 1989, Gulfcoast instituted an action to enforce the covenant not to compete against Hapney and his new em ployer. After an evidentiary proceeding, the trial court entered a temporary injunction in favor of Gulfcoast. That order is the subject of this interlocutory appeal.
The issue with which we are concerned centers around the following findings of fact made by the trial judge:
[WJhile employed by Gulfcoast, (i) he [Hapney] received no significant training in the installation and repair of automobile air conditioning systems, beyond the knowledge and skill that he possessed when he began work with Gulfcoast, (ii) he received significant training in the installation of cruise controls and cellular telephones in automobiles, (iii) he had no significant contacts with Gulfcoast's customers and developed no significant relationships with Gulfcoast's customers, and (iv) he acquired no trade secrets or confidential business information of Gulfcoast.
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
Under the common law of England, a contract restricting a person's right to pursue his trade or occupation was deemed void as against public policy. Medieval concepts that a person could not pursue a trade in which he had not been apprenticed made the rule necessary, because prohibiting a person from working under the supervision of one other than his original employer would leave the person in involuntary servitude or unable to provide for himself and his dependents. See Standard Newspapers, Inc. v. Woods, 110 So.2d 397 (Fla.1959).
With the passage of time, the ancient rules of apprenticeship were abandoned, and it became recognized that in special circumstances limited restraints of competition were both necessary and proper to protect an employer's proprietary rights. Herbert Morris, Ltd. v. Saxelby, [1916] 1 A.C. 688; Bowler v. Lovegrove, [1921] 1 Ch. 642. Thus evolved the distinction between contracts prohibiting competition per se, which were prima facia invalid, Northwest Side Lumber Co. v. Layton, 239 Ill.App. 82 (App.Ct.1925), and contracts protecting an employer from unfair competition from a former employee who had obtained trade secrets, or other confidential information, or special relationships with customers during the course of his employment. May v. Young, 125 Conn. 1, 2 A.2d 385 (1938); Super Maid Cook-Ware Corp. v. Hamil, 50 F.2d 830, 831 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 284 U.S. 677, 52 S.Ct. 138, 76 L.Ed. 572 (1931) ("It is a settled principle of law that no man may, per se, contract with another that the other will not follow a calling by which he may make his livelihood."). These basic concepts are embraced in the law of our state. See Arnold v. Grossman, 75 So.2d 593 (Fla.1954); Love v. Miami Laundry Co., 118 Fla. 137, 160 So. 32 (1934).
In 1953 the legislature enacted section 542.12, Florida Statutes (1953) (renumbered in 1980 as section 542.33), which acknowledged the common law principle that contracts in restraint of trade are void. The statute provides an exception which includes, in general terms, that an employee "may agree with his employer, to refrain from carrying on or engaging in a similar business and from soliciting old customers of such employer."
The statute is silent on the issue of whether for such contracts to be valid they must relate to the protection of a proprietary interest of the employer. Thus, we must determine if such requirement is to be implied in the statute or whether the legislature has intended to authorize con tracts which prohibit competition per se. No Florida decision addresses this precise question.
OTHER JURISDICTIONS
Our review of the laws and decisions of our sister states which permit employee noncompetition agreements reveals an overwhelming majority requiring, at a minimum, that such contracts be reasonably related to the protection of a "legitimate business interest" or "protectible interest" of the employer. The rule, generally stated, is that an employer may not enforce a post-employment restriction on a former employee simply to eliminate competition per se; the employer must establish its legitimate business interest to be protected. See Bryceland v. Northey, 160 Ariz. 213, 772 P.2d 36 (Ct.App.1989).
The Supreme Court of Tennessee expressed the rule as follows:
[A]ny competition by a former employee may well injure the business of the employer. An employer, however, cannot by contract restrain ordinary competition. In order for an employer to be entitled to protection, there must be special facts present over and above ordinary competition. These special facts must be such that without the covenant not to compete the employee would gain an unfair advantage in future competition with the employer.
Hasty v. Rent-A-Driver, Inc., 671 S.W.2d 471, 473 (Tenn.1984) (citations omitted).
The rule is an expression of common sense which both protects the employer from unfair competition and recognizes the right of an individual, in a free and competitive society, to earn an honest living and better his status along the way. In a broader sense, all consumers benefit from the availability of goods and services, the quality and price of which are determined by fair competition, unfettered by artificial monopolistic practices.
FLORIDA LAW
We have no reason to doubt, and so determine, that the general rule stated above is an integral part of our law, which is implied in section 542.33(2)(a), Florida Statutes (1989).
As we have noted, no Florida court has addressed the precise issue presented here. Several decisions, however, imply recognition of the rule. In Capelouto v. Orkin Exterminating Co., 183 So.2d 532, 534 (Fla.), appeal dismissed, 385 U.S. 11, 87 S.Ct. 78, 17 L.Ed.2d 10 (1966), our supreme court addressed the constitutionality of section 542.12 (the predecessor of 542.33), and in upholding the statute, observed:
[T]he fact that such contracts may be lawfully made and enforced under the statute does not ipso facto make every such contract enforceible [sic] as written. The restrictive provisions of such contracts will generally be enforced in such way as to protect the legitimate interests of the employer....
The same court held in Akey v. Murphy, 238 So.2d 94, 96-97 (Fla.1970), "that there was a 'reasonable interest' to be protected by the restraining covenant." Later in Miller Mechanical, Inc. v. Ruth, 300 So.2d 11, 12 (Fla.1974), the supreme court explained that section 542.12 "is designed to allow employers to prevent their employees and agents from learning their trade secrets, befriending their customers and then moving into competition with them."
The recent decisions of this court are of like tenor. In Flatley v. Forbes, 483 So.2d 483, 485 (Fla. 2d DCA 1986), Judge Frank, who joins in this opinion, observed in affirming the ruling of the trial court that the covenant in question was void and unenforceable, saying:
Flatley, however, had no tangible benefits stemming from the contract affecting only the Pasco County practice to protect by barring Forbes from practicing in Pinellas County.... The obvious and sole purpose of the covenant was to exclude Forbes from competing with Flatley in Pinellas County.
And in Marshall v. Gore, 506 So.2d 91, 92 (Fla. 2d DCA 1987), we limited the scope of an injunction to protect only the "legitimate business interests" of the employer.
Perhaps most fundamental to our determination is that "[t]he right to work, earn a living and acquire and possess property from the fruits of one's labor is an inalienable right." Lee v. Delmar, 66 So.2d 252, 255 (Fla.1953); Art. I, § 2, Fla. Const. Implicit in this right is the opportunity to move freely within the labor force in the quest for advancement in position and economic productivity. Certainly the common law of this state recognized and jealously guarded this freedom in condemning and restricting contracts of the kind here considered.
Section 542.33(2)(a) is clearly in derogation of the common law and must be strictly construed. "Such statutes will not be interpreted to displace the common law further than is clearly necessary and will not be construed to make any alteration in the common law other than that which the statute specifies and plainly pronounces." Sarasota Beverage Co. v. Johnson, 551 So.2d 503, 511 (Fla. 2d DCA 1989) (Campbell, J., dissenting) (emphasis in original). A plain reading of section 542.33(2)(a) dispels any notion that the legislature intended to dispense with the bedrock requirement that covenants' of this nature must relate to a legitimate business interest of the employer in order to restrict or impinge upon the right to pursue and earn a living guaranteed by our constitution.
Having determined that, pursuant to section 542.33(2)(a), the existence of a legitimate interest of the employer to be protected is a threshold condition to the validity of a covenant not to compete, we now direct our attention to what may constitute such an interest. Generally, three such interests are recognized: (1) trade secrets and confidential business lists, records, and information, (2) customer goodwill, and (3) to a limited degree, extraordinary or specialized training provided by the employer. See Moore Business Forms, Inc. v. Foppiano, 382 S.E.2d 499 (W.Va.1989); Hasty v. Rent-A-Driver, Inc., 671 S.W.2d 471 (Tenn.1984); Robbins v. Finlay, 645 P.2d 623 (Utah 1982). Clearly categories (1) and (2), by reason of our prior case law and the expression of the legislature in the 1990 amendment to section 542.33(2)(a), are interests which may be protected. Ch. 90-216, § 1, Laws of Fla. The third category is difficult to define with any degree of precision. Where recognized as a protectible interest, it is generally required that the employer provide more in training than that acquired by simply performing the tasks associated with a job. The resolution of this question is pertinent here because Hapney, although thoroughly schooled in the installation and repair of auto air conditioners upon his employment by Gulfcoast, did acquire the knowledge and experience necessary to install and repair cruise control units and cellular telephones while in the employ of Gulfcoast.
To constitute a protectible interest, however, the providing of training or education must be extraordinary. "Extraordinary" is that which goes beyond what is usual, regular, common, or customary in the industry in which the employee is employed. The rationale is that if an employer dedicates time and money to the extraordinary training and education of an employee, whereby the employee attains a unique skill or an enhanced degree of sophistication in an existing skill, then it is unfair to permit that employee to use those skills to the benefit of a competitor when the employee has contracted not to do so. The precise degree of training or education which rises to the level of a protectible interest will vary from industry to industry and is a factual determination to be made by the trial court. Needless to say, skills which may be acquired by following the directions in the box or learned by a person of ordinary education by reading a manual do not meet the test. Such is the case of Hapney, who extended his air-conditioning installation and repair skills to include cruise control units and cellular telephones. This is not to say that unique training in performing the simplest of tasks cannot be protected when the employer's methods fall within the category of trade secrets or other confidential information. No evidence in this record shifts Hapney's training to such a protected category.
Gulfcoast urges that we are compelled to affirm the trial court based on Capraro v. Lanier Business Products, Inc., 466 So.2d 212 (Fla.1985), and our decision in Sarasota Beverage Co. We disagree. In Capraro, the court determined that "irreparable injury may be presumed upon proof of breach of a valid covenant not to compete," 466 So.2d at 213 (emphasis added). The distinction is readily apparent. Capraro deals with presumptions and burden of proof, not the validity of the underlying contract. Although Capraro contested the covenant's enforceability on grounds of estoppel, the issue of a protecti-ble interest was not presented. See Capraro v. Lanier Business Products, Inc., 445 So.2d 719 (Fla. 4th DCA 1984), decision approved by Capraro v. Lanier Business Prods., Inc., 466 So.2d 212 (Fla.1985). Likewise, Sarasota Beverage Co. relates solely to the court's authority to limit or reject the enforcement of a valid contract on equitable principles. In fact, the su preme court's decision in Capraro enforces our determination that the court must look to the validity of the covenant in the first instance.
In his well-reasoned dissents in Keller v. Twenty-Four Collection, Inc., 419 So.2d 1048 (Fla.1982), and Capraro, Justice Overton called upon the legislature "to modify or repeal section 542.12 in order that the courts may use proper equitable principles when injunctive relief is sought to enforce noncompetition agreements." Capraro, 466 So.2d at 214. In 1990 the legislature responded with chapter 90-216, section 1, Laws of Florida. We view the sweeping impact of this amendment to be threefold. First, the presumption of irreparable injury expressed in Capraro is strictly curtailed. Second, a test of reasonableness is injected into the enforcement process because the amendment prohibits the enforcement of an unreasonable covenant. In Miller Mechanical, Inc. v. Ruth, 300 So.2d 11, 12 (Fla.1974), our supreme court held:
In determining the reasonableness of such an agreement, the courts employ a balancing test to weigh the employer's interest in preventing the competition against the oppressive effect on the employee.
As this court held in Xerographics, Inc. v. Thomas, 537 So.2d 140 (Fla. 2d DCA 1988), this balancing test has been limited strictly to covenant provisions pertaining to duration and geographic area. We said:
The court may not refuse to give effect to a valid noncompetition agreement on the ground that enforcement would have an overly burdensome effect on employee. Twenty Four Collection, Inc. v. Keller, 389 So.2d 1062 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980). The only authority the court possesses over the terms of a noncompetition agreement is to determine reasonableness of the time and area limitations.
Xerographics, Inc., 537 So.2d at 143. And in Sarasota Beverage Co., we stated:
A court is not empowered to refuse to give effect to a covenant not to compete on the basis of finding that the enforcement of the contract's terms would produce an unjust result by causing an overly burdensome effect upon the employee.
551 So.2d at 507 (citations omitted). This restriction upon the court's powers of review flows from the terms of section 542.-33(2)(a) that an "employee may agree with his employer, to refrain from carrying on or engaging in a similar business . within a reasonably limited time and area." Judicial interpretation construed this language as an implied limit upon the court's authority because it granted no power to extend the test of reasonableness beyond that area specifically defined. This language remains unchanged in the statute as amended. Added, however, is the specific authority to deny injunctive relief as to an "unreasonable covenant." In this regard, we determine the intent of the legislature to be to authorize the courts to apply traditional equitable principle in cases of this nature to avoid unfair and unjust results, as urged by Justice Overton in his dissent in Keller.
Third, the legislature has specifically identified and segregated for special treatment covenants which protect trade secrets and customer lists and prohibit solicitation of existing customers, all of which are universally identified as legitimate business interests which may be protected. In such cases, the proof of such an interest to be protected provides the threshold for a presumption of irreparable harm on breach of the contract. All covenants not to compete, however, must be founded on an interest, determined by law, to be the proper subject of protection. That is, the proof of a protectible interest is the threshold to enforcement of such covenants; it is only the degree of proof thereafter which varies depending on the class of interest to be protected.
We address this 1990 amendment to section 542.33 because the trial court found that Hapney "received significant training in the installation of cruise controls and cellular telephones in autos" during his employment by Gulfcoast. Hapney concedes that these were skills which he did not possess when he began working for Gulf-coast. In view of our determination that such training must be extraordinary, it may appear remote that Hapney's training can rise to the level of a protectible interest. Nevertheless, we cannot totally foreclose Gulfcoast from pursuing the issue because it was not specifically addressed by the trial court. We therefore consider whether the trial court must apply section 542.33(2)(a), as amended, to this case on remand.
Remedial statutes, which do not create new or take away vested rights but only further existing rights, are to be applied retrospectively. Ziccardi v. Strother, 570 So.2d 1319 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990). Included in this category are statutes governing the burden of proof in civil actions. Walker & LaBerge, Inc. v. Halligan, 344 So.2d 239 (Fla.1977); Stein v. Miller Indus. Inc., 564 So.2d 539 (Fla. 4th DCA 1990); see also, Dep't of Agric. & Consumer Servcs. v. Bonanno, 568 So.2d 24 (Fla.1990). The right created by section 542.12, and carried forward in section 542.33(2)(a), is to enter into a covenant not to compete in derogation of the common law. Procedurally the statute, from its inception, has provided that such contracts may be enforced by injunctive relief. Chapter 90-216 merely refines the relief available by categorizing the burden of proof in relation to the pro-tectible interest at issue, and clarifies that the general principles of equity shall apply in this class of cases. The underlying substantive right is not affected. The statute is therefore remedial and may be applied retrospectively.
CONCLUSION
We hold (1) a covenant not to compete which prohibits competition per se violates public policy and is void; (2) a condition precedent to the validity of a covenant not to compete entered into by an agent, independent contractor or employee is the existence of a legitimate business interest of the employer to be protected; (3) it is the employer's burden to plead and prove the underlying protectible interest; (4) trade secrets, customer lists, and the right to prevent direct solicitation of existing customers are, per se, legitimate business interests subject to protection; (5) other business interests, such as, but not limited to, extraordinary training or education, may constitute protectible interests depending upon the proof adduced; and (6) chapter 90-216, section 1, Laws of Florida, shall apply to and control all actions now pending or hereafter commenced.
As applied to this case, Gulfcoast has failed to plead or prove a legitimate business interest to be protected as the foundation of Hapney's covenant not to compete. The temporary injunction is therefore vacated with leave to Gulfcoast to serve amended pleadings if it so elects.
Reversed and remanded.
FRANK, J., concurs.
LEHAN, A.C.J., dissents with opinion.
. 542.12 Contracts in restraint of trade invalid; exceptions—
(2) One who sells the good will of a business, or any shareholder of a corporation selling or otherwise disposing of all of his shares in said corporation, may agree with the buyer, and one who is employed as an agent or employee may agree with his employer, to refrain from carrying on or engaging in a similar business and from soliciting old customers of such employer within a reasonably limited time and area, so long as the buyer or any person deriving title to the good will from him, and so long as such employer continues to carry on a like business therein. Said agreements may, in the discretion of a court of competent jurisdiction, be enforced by injunction.
. See also Sheffield v. Stoudenmire, 553 So.2d 125 (Ala.1989); Amex Distributing Co. v. Mascan, 150 Ariz. 510, 724 P.2d 596 (Ct.App.1986); Evans Laboratories, Inc. v. Melder, 262 Ark. 868, 562 S.W.2d 62 (1978); Mgmt. Recruiters of Boulder, Inc. v. Miller, 762 P.2d 763 (Colo.App.1988); New Haven Tobacco Co. v. Perrelli, 18 Conn.App. 531, 559 A.2d 715 (App.Ct.), cert. denied, 564 A.2d 1071 (1989); Ellis v. James V. Hurson Assocs., 565 A.2d 615 (D.C.App.1989); Beckman v. Cox Broadcasting Corp., 250 Ga. 127, 296 S.E.2d 566 (1982); Technicolor, Inc. v. Traeger, 57 Haw. 113, 551 P.2d 163 (1976); Marshall v. Covington, 81 Idaho 199, 339 P.2d 504 (1959); Retina Servs. Ltd. v. Garoon, 182 Ill.App.3d 851, 131 Ill.Dec. 276, 538 N.E.2d 651, cert. denied, 127 Ill.2d 640, 136 Ill.Dec. 606, 545 N.E.2d 130 (1989); Harvest Ins. Agency v. Inter-Ocean Ins. Co., 492 N.E.2d 686 (Ind.1986); Iowa Glass Depot, Inc. v. Jindrich, 338 N.W.2d 376 (Iowa 1983); Puritan-Bennett Corp. v. Richter, 235 Kan. 251, 679 P.2d 206 (1984); Central Adjustment Bureau, Inc. v. Ingram Assoc., Inc., 622 S.W.2d 681 (Ky.App.1981); Chapman & Drake v. Harrington, 545 A.2d 645 (Me.1988); Holloway v. Faw, Casson & Co., 78 Md.App. 205, 552 A.2d 1311 (1989), aff'd in part, rev'd in part, 319 Md. 324, 572 A.2d 510 (1990); Kroeger v. Stop & Shop Cos. Inc., 13 Mass.App. 310, 432 N.E.2d 566, rev. denied, 386 Mass. 1102, 440 N.E.2d 1175 (1982); Follmer, Rudzewicz & Co., P.C. v. Kosco, 420 Mich. 394, 362 N.W.2d 676 (Mich.1984); Webb Pub. Co. v. Fosshage, 426 N.W.2d 445 (Minn.App.1988); Thames v. Davis & Goulet Ins., Inc., 420 So.2d 1041 (Miss.1982); Cape Mobile Home Mart, Inc. v. Mobley, 780 S.W.2d 116 (Mo.App.1989); Polly v. Ray D. Hilderman & Co., 225 Neb. 662, 407 N.W.2d 751 (1987); Ellis v. McDaniel, 95 Nev. 455, 596 P.2d 222 (1979); Smith, Batchelder & Rugg v. Foster, 119 N.H. 679, 406 A.2d 1310 (1979); Ingersoll-Rand Co. v. Ciavatta, 110 N.J. 609, 542 A.2d 879 (1988); The Listworks Corp. v. LCS Indus., Inc., 155 A.D.2d 305, 547 N.Y.S.2d 277 (1989); United Laboratories, Inc. v. Kuykendall, 322 N.C. 643, 370 S.E.2d 375 (1988); Levine v. Beckman, 48 Ohio App.3d 24, 548 N.E.2d 267 (1988); Farmers Ins. Exchange v. Fraley, 80 Or.App. 117, 720 P.2d 770 (1986); Blair Design & Const. Co. v. Kalimon, 366 Pa.Super. 194, 530 A.2d 1357 (1987); Rental Uniform Serv. of Florence, Inc. v. Dudley, 278 S.C. 674, 301 S.E.2d 142 (1983); Hill v. Mobile Auto Trim, Inc., 725 S.W.2d 168 (Tex.1987) (superseded by statute as recognized in DeSantis v. Wackenhut Corp., 793 S.W.2d 670 (Tex.1990)); Fine Foods, Inc. v. Dahlin, 147 Vt. 599, 523 A.2d 1228 (1986); Paramount Termite Control Co. v. Rector, 238 Va. 171, 380 S.E.2d 922 (1989); Gant v. Hygeia Facilities Found., Inc., 384 S.E.2d 842 (W.Va.1989); Rollins Burdick Hunter of Wis. v. Hamilton, 101 Wis.2d 460, 304 N.W.2d 752 (1981); Tench v. Weaver, 374 P.2d 27 (Wyo.1962).
. Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of section 542.33, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
542.33 Contracts in restraint of trade valid
(2)(a) One who sells the goodwill of a business, or any shareholder of a corporation selling or otherwise disposing of all of his shares in said corporation, may agree with the buyer, and one who is employed as an agent, independent contractor, or employee may agree with his employer, to refrain from carrying on or engaging in a similar business and from soliciting old customers of such employer within a reasonably limited time and area, so long as the buyer or any person deriving title to the goodwill from him, and so long as such employer, continues to carry on a like business therein. Said agreements may, in the discretion of a court of competent jurisdiction, be enforced by injunction. However, the court shall not enter an injunction contrary to the public health, safety, or welfare or in any case where the injunction enforces an unreasonable covenant not to compete or where there is no showing of irreparable injury. However, use of specific trade secrets, customer lists, or direct solicitation of existing customers shall be presumed to be an irreparable injury and may be specifically enjoined. In the event the seller of the goodwill of a business, or a shareholder selling or otherwise disposing of all his shares in a corporation breaches an agreement to refrain from carrying on or engaging in a similar business, irreparable injury shall be presumed.
. B. Effect of Proposed Changes:
The bill would prohibit a court from entering an injunction when the injunction would be contrary to the public health, safety or welfare, when the injunction enforces an unreasonable covenant to not compete or when there is no showing of an irreparable injury. This would overturn the decision in Caparo [sic] v. Lanier Business Products, Inc., Supra, and require the party seeking injunctive relief to plead and prove irreparable injury.
The bill would continue to allow the presumption of irreparable injury in connection with the use of trade secrets, customer lists, or direct solicitation of existing customers. Such injury would also continue to be presumed in connection with the sale of the goodwill of a business or the sale of all of a shareholder's stock in a corporation.
Staff of Fla.S.Comm. on Judiciary-Civ., CS for SB 2642 (1990) Staff Analysis 2 (May 17, 1990) (on file with committee) [hereinafter Judiciary-Civ. Comm. CS for SB 2642 Staff Analysis].
. In addition, although courts currently examine covenants for the purpose of assessing their reasonableness, the addition of language stating that the court shall not enter an injunction which enforces an unreasonable covenant could result in the court's reexamination of whether the covenant is "burdensome", See, Xerographics, Inc. v. Thomas, 537 So.2d 140, 143 (2d DCA Fla.1988).
Judiciary-Civ. Comm. CS for SB 2642 Staff Analysis 3 (parenthetical omitted).