Question

"Guyan Machinery, a West Virginia manufacturing corporation, hired Albert Voorhees as a salesman and required him to sign a contract stating that if he left Guyan he would not work for a competing corporation anywhere within 250 miles of West Virginia for a two-year period. Later, Voorhees left Guyan and immediately began working at Polydeck Corp., another West Virginia manufacturer. The only product Polydeck made was urethane screens, which comprised half of 1 percent of Guyan's business. Is Guyan entitled to enforce its non-compete clause?

a) No, because it is not essential to the employer.

b) Yes, because the non-compete clause is essential to the employee.

c) No, because the non-compete clause was not fair to the employer.

d) Yes, because the non-compete clause is fair to the employer.

Answer 1

The non-compete clause in Guyan Machinery's contract with Albert Voorhees is unlikely to be enforceable due to its overly broad geographic scope and the minimal impact of Voorhees' employment on Guyan's business. Option (C) is correct.

Step-by-step explanation:

The non-compete clause in Guyan Machinery's contract with Albert Voorhees is not likely to be enforceable. Generally, non-compete clauses must meet certain requirements to be considered valid and enforceable. One of these requirements is that the clause must be reasonable in terms of geographic scope and duration.

In this case, the non-compete clause restricts Voorhees from working for a competing corporation anywhere within 250 miles of West Virginia for two years. Given that Polydeck Corp., the company Voorhees joined, is also a West Virginia manufacturer, the geographic scope of the non-compete clause is likely to be seen as too broad. Moreover, the fact that urethane screens comprise only a small fraction of Guyan's business suggests that Voorhees' employment at Polydeck would not pose a significant threat to Guyan's business interests.

As a result, Guyan is unlikely to be entitled to enforce its non-compete clause against Albert Voorhees.