Curtis Industries, Inc., a Delaware Corporation and Cf Acquisition Corp. Ii, Doing Business as Fullwell Products v. Paul D. Livingston Jerald Larson and Winzer Corporation, a Texas Corporation
Docket: 93-2457
Court: Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit; July 22, 1994; Federal Appellate Court
Curtis Industries, Inc. and CFAcquisition Corp. II appealed the District Court's denial of a preliminary injunction against former employees Paul Livingston and Jerald Larson, seeking to enforce non-competition clauses in their employment agreements. These agreements required employees to refrain from competing with Curtis for one year after leaving the company. Livingston left Curtis on January 6, 1993, and joined Winzer Corporation, while Larson left in March 1993 to work for Livingston. Both began soliciting Curtis's customers shortly after their departures. The District Court denied the injunction, leading to the appeal. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals found the appeal moot because the one-year non-competition period had expired for both employees, with Larson being away for 16 months by the time of the decision. The court rejected Curtis's argument that the one-year period should reset following a potential injunction, emphasizing that non-competition agreements must be narrowly construed in restraint of trade. The court dismissed the appeal as moot, remanding the case to the District Court to vacate its previous order and enter a new order denying the motion for preliminary injunction as moot. The District Court may still consider any claims for damages resulting from the alleged breach of the non-competition agreements. Any future appeals will be referred back to this panel.