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Whenever I draft or review an employment agreement (or for that matter any contract) one of the first things I look for is a venue provision.  Usually there is one, but if not you fall back on the laws of the state the party would like to bring suit in to see if venue works.  There is nothing that will take the steam out of a lawsuit then the contention it was filed in the wrong place. Drafting tip – make sure there is a venue provision.

So, assuming there is a venue provision it’s likely there is a choice of law provision as well.  Often times the venue provision will require an employee to agree to venue in the state/city where the employer is located.  The idea from the employer’s standpoint is it would rather enforce its agreements in the place where it is located and in most cases under the same laws.  The provision will look something like this:

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Continue Reading Where are we going to fight? – Venue provisions in employment agreements.

For whatever reason an employee leaves, the exit interview (if that’s what the company calls it) or instance when the HR person in charge collects the employees building badge and any company property is an excellent time to remind the employee of their post-employment covenants.  We talked about agreements at the end of employment during…

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Strictly speaking under Texas law it is hard to make a non-compete stick when it is first introduced at the end of employment.  Assume a situation where an employee signed a confidentiality agreement and non-disclosure agreement but didn’t sign a non-compete, non-solicit (customers), or anti-raid (employees).  Is the employer out of luck?  Maybe not.

For purposes of this discussion, assume that what I am about to suggest is not legally enforceable under the Texas non-compete statute.  Put another way, the employer is never going to sue the agreement and the employee is under no requirement to sign the agreement. They can simply walk – a non-compete based on past consideration doesn’t work.

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Continue Reading Non-Competes At the End of Employment

I usually don’t dive into the weeds of particular cases here because it can be tedious and boring.  That said, a recent case from the 14th Court of Appeals in Houston caught my eye.  First, the employer at issue is none other than Buc-ee’s.  If you’ve ever driven the highways of Texas there is…

This time of  year is usually interesting from a college football coach perspective.  Most teams that intend to fire their coach have done so and are now in the coaching market.  Of course once those hires are made that creates additional openings for others.  There seem to be a lot of vacancies for very good…

Yesterday’s Dallas Morning News homepage had not 1 but 2 employment related cases.  Texas icon Whataburger has been sued for alleged discriminatory hiring practices and CBS 11 has been sued for violating the ADEA when it chose to hire a younger female traffic reporter over 44 year old Tammy Dombeck.  Both cases were filed by…

The purpose of the performance improvement plan or “PIP” is to give an employee the opportunity to make certain changes in their work performance so as to merit ongoing employment.  Put another way satisfy the PIP and you keep your job. Of course, there are all sorts of statements in the PIP (or there should…

The usual gamut of post-employment covenants includes non-compete restrictions, non-solicitation of customer restrictions, confidentiality restrictions, and in many cases the anti-raid provision designed to keep a departing employee from hiring away a former employer’s employees and contractors.  The anti-raid is not always given a lot of thought, but it should be.  Why?  Because when…

Last year I worked with a number of employers to address the Obama administrations’ new overtime rules.  Here are some posts on the subject.  Eventually a judge here in Texas (the same judge that is handling the Ezekiel Elliot lawsuit) entered an order preventing implementation of the new rules.  Then President Trump was elected and…

This week, I have the privilege of speaking to the Executive Search Owners Association. Over the years I have had the privilege of representing placement professionals in a number of circumstances. Some tips:

  1. Make sure your engagement agreements/contracts make sense and are enforceable;
  2. Remember that non-competes and non-solicitation agreements in Texas can be enforceable;

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