Opinion ID: 2438494
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: wingo act

Text: Nelms initially asserts that his employment agreement with Morgan is void and unenforceable because it violates the Wingo Act. There is no dispute that Morgan's charter was revoked for failure to pay franchise taxes at the time of execution of the employment agreement. However, the undisputed, express terms of the agreement contain a non-competition clause regulating Nelms's conduct in interstate commerce. Such a clause falls within the purview of an established interstate commerce exception to the requirement that a corporation must be qualified to do business in Arkansas before it can enforce a contract. Goode v. Universal Plastics, Inc., 247 Ark. 442, 445 S.W.2d 893 (1969). We have also noted that the Wingo Act will not be applied to prevent actions on contracts made outside of Arkansas, even though interstate commerce is not involved. UPI v. Hernreich, d/b/a Station KZNG, 241 Ark. 36, 406 S.W.2d 317 (1966); Hough v. Continental Leasing Corp., 275 Ark. 340, 630 S.W.2d 19 (1982).