Opinion ID: 409265
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The existence of a protectible employer interest

Text: 58 Under Illinois law, a post-termination non-competition clause is not enforceable unless the employer can demonstrate that a 'protectible interest' justifies it ... Gorman Publishing Co. v. Stillman, 516 F.Supp. at 104. Two such protectible interests are generally recognized. First, if the employee acquired confidential information through his employment and subsequently attempted to use it for his own benefit, courts will allow the employer to protect his interest in that information. Morrison Metalweld, 97 Ill.App.3d at 376, 52 Ill.Dec. 825, 422 N.E.2d 1034. Second, courts will allow an employer to protect his interest in its customers if, by the nature of the business, the employer has a long-standing relationship with its customers, with whom the defendant would not have come in contact but for his association with the plaintiff. Id. See Cockerill v. Wilson, supra; Canfield v. Spear, supra; Donald McElroy, Inc. v. Delaney, 72 Ill.App.3d 285, 27 Ill.Dec. 892, 389 N.E.2d 1300 (1st Dist. 1979); Wessel Co. v. Busa, 28 Ill.App.3d 686, 692, 329 N.E.2d 414 (1st Dist. 1975). Cf., Nationwide Advertising Service, Inc. v. Kolar, 14 Ill.App.3d 522, 302 N.E.2d 734 (1st Dist. 1973) (no protectible interest in customers where relationship is merely transitory). Although this case presented a very close question as to the first type of protectible interest, whether the defendants possessed the requisite confidential information to justify enforcement of the agreement, the court finds that Medtronic's long term relationships with its customers bring it within the meaning of the second type of protectible interest, and therefore, the court need not address the confidentiality issue. 59 Medtronic's close professional relationships with its hospital accounts, prescribing physicians and implanting surgeons predates the defendants' employment with Medtronic. The defendants, none of whom sold pacemakers prior to joining Medtronic, received extensive training from the plaintiff, and were well-compensated by the plaintiff to further develop close personal and professional relationships with the doctors upon whom they called. The defendants, in developing those relationships exceeded traditional boundaries of salesman responsibilities. Wessel Co. v. Busa, 28 Ill.App.3d at 692, 329 N.E.2d 414. Medtronic's salesmen played an integral role in the entire pacemaker implantation process, from sale through post-implanatation (sic) follow-up. Medtronic salesmen, among other things, attended surgeries and provided continuing technical assistance to the doctors upon whom they called. To further cement the close customer relationships, Medtronic periodically flew physicians to Minnesota to tour its facilities, and also paid the expenses for its salesmen to wine and dine physicians and members of hospital staffs. As such, the relationships are more closely analogous to the near-permanent relationships described in Morrison Metalweld, Cockerill and Canfield, then they are to the transitory nature of many other unprotectible customer relationships. Therefore, the court finds a protectible interest to exist here which would justify enforcement of the agreement, thus satisfying the second requirement for enforcement. 60