Following Mr. Byrne’s short employment with Robert J. Reby & Co. he began to work at Aspetuck Financial Management, LLC, a wealth management firm based in Westport. Robert J. Reby & Co. alleged that Mr. Byrne solicited its clients for his new firm, Aspetuck, in direct violation of the non-compete agreement. Mr. Byrne countered that the provisions of the non-compete were unreasonable in the sense that it placed an excessive restraint on his trade and prevented him from pursuing his occupation.
The Court’s Decision
The court held that the non-compete agreement between Mr. Byrne and Robert J. Reby & Co. contained reasonable terms and was enforceable. It failed to see any merits in Mr. Byrne’s claim that the agreement was too broad and created an insurmountable occupational hardship. The provisions of the agreement only restricted a very small segment of Mr. Byrne’s occupational activities.
The terms he agreed to only prevented him from soliciting the specific and limited group of people that were clients of Robert J. Reby & Co.. The court held that the covenant was not a pure anti-competitive clause because it did not prevent him from engaging in the investment services industry as a whole. This limited scope with regard to the prohibition levied upon Mr. Byrne caused the agreement to be reasonable and therefore enforceable.
The court also took time to discuss the public policy behind finding the non-compete agreement enforceable and establishing the legitimacy of the agreement. Companies, according to the court, have a legitimate interest in protecting their business operations by preventing former employees from exploiting or appropriating the goodwill of its clients that it developed at its own, and not the employees’, expense.
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