California Non-Compete Law Renders Surgeon Settlement Agreement Unenforceable

Answering a question left from a previous appeal in the same case, a divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has concluded that a settlement agreement provision between a physician and his former employer, the California Emergency Physicians Medical Group (“CEP”), constituted a “restraint of a substantial character” on the physician’s medical practice and therefore violated California’s non-compete provision, Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 16600. As a result, the entire settlement agreement was void and unenforceable. Golden v. California Emergency Physicians Med. Grp., No. 16-17354 (9th Cir. July 24, 2018).