On April 30, 2015, the Wisconsin Supreme Court issued its long-awaited decision in Runzheimer Int’l, Ltd. v. Friedlen, settling a dispute in Wisconsin over whether continued employment alone was sufficient to bind an employee to a non-compete agreement. The case involved an important, if nuanced, distinction between (a) whether there is a legal “agreement” in the first place and (b) whether that legal agreement is enforceable. If there is no legal agreement, then there is nothing to enforce. If there is a legal agreement, the question becomes whether the restrictions themselves are enforceable (based on their reasonableness, etc.). The former question was addressed in Runzheimer.
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