On October 2, 2024, the Circuit Court for the County of St. Louis granted summary judgment to a former employee of John Beal Incorporated (“JBI”) because the Court found that the non-competition restrictive covenant in JBI’s Account Manager Agreement “is overbroad on its face and operates as a restriction on mere competition by former employees.” This summary judgment order effectively ended JBI’s attempt to prevent a former employee from operating a roofing contractor business within a 120-mile radius of each of JBI’s locations, including the St. Louis Metropolitan area, the Kansas City Metropolitan area, Carbondale Illinois, Springfield Missouri, Omaha Nebraska, as well as any other location added after the execution of the Account Manager Agreement, whether or not noted in a written Addendum.
The court reasoned that the JBI Account Manager Agreement does not protect JBI’s legitimate business interests and is therefore unenforceable under Missouri law as stated in Healthcare Services of the Ozarks, Inc. v. Copeland, 198 S.W. 3d 604, 609 (Mo. 2006) and Whelan Sec, Co. v. Kennebrew, 379 S.W. 3d 835, 841-42 (Mo. 2022). Further, the court found that it should invalidate the non-compete restrictive covenant in the JBI Account Manager Agreement completely rather than modify the overbroad provisions.
Cosgrove Law Group, LLC represented the former employee in this case. If you are a company or individual with questions regarding the enforceability of non-compete agreements under Missouri law, you may not want to act alone and wish to consult with one of our experienced attorneys. Call us at 314-563-2490.