Court Opinion

ID: 9705335
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 01:02:47.188997+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:22:09.998207
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE JIGANTI, specially concurring: While I agree with the majority, I would like to comment on the reasonableness of the post-employment restraint in this case. The validity of a post-employment restraint is determined by the reasonableness of its terms and effect. It is reasonable if enforcement of the restraint will neither injure the public’s interest in maintaining competition within the industry nor cause undue hardship to the employee by preventing him from earning a livelihood. (Restatement (Second) of Contracts sec. 188, comment c (1981).) Moreover, the restriction must not be greater than what is necessary to protect the employer. (Restatement (Second) of Contracts sec. 188, comment d (1981).) Specifically, the restraint must be reasonable as to activity, geographical scope, and time. (House of Vision, Inc. v. Hiyane (1967), 37 Ill. 2d 32, 37, 225 N.E.2d 21; Dryvit System, Inc. v. Rushing (1985), 132 Ill. App. 3d 9, 477 N.E.2d 35; Blake, Employee Agreements Not to Compete, 73 Harv. L. Rev. 625, 674-81 (1960).) The agreement before us comports with the law because it is reasonable as to activity, geographical scope, and time. The agreement here merely provides that for one year Zoromski may not engage “in equipment repair and maintenance activity which is competitive with that being conducted by A. B. Dick Company *** within the territory served by any A. B. Dick Company Branch Office to which [he has] been assigned during the twelve months immediately prior to the termination of my employment.” The restraint does not, as in the case of a broader restraint of trade, prevent him from practicing his trade, nor does it deny him the right to engage in or be employed by a competitive business. It merely restricts Zoromski from servicing and repairing A. B. Dick equipment, as the A. B. Dick Company only services and repairs equipment which A. B. Dick Company itself manufactures. As a result, Zoromski may still service and repair any other type of equipment. Consequently, applying the principles stated above, it is evident that the activity restraint is carefully tailored and narrowly drawn to meet the interests of the employer and the employee. (See, e.g., Dryvit System, Inc. v. Rushing (1985), 132 Ill. App. 3d 9, 13, 477 N.E.2d 35; Blake, Employee Agreements Not to Compete, 73 Harv. L. Rev. 625, 675 (1960).) Similarly, the geographical and time restrictions are appropriately limited to protect the employer’s interest without unduly harming the employee. For these reasons, I think the restraint is reasonable.