Fireworks Fly, California District Court Enjoins Former Pyrotechnics Company Employee From Soliciting Former Employer’s Customers

On March 21, 2012, in the case of Pyro Spectaculars, Inc. et al. v. Souza, Case No. 12-CV-00299-GGH, Magistrate Judge Gregory G. Hollows of the USDC for the Eastern District of California (Sacramento Division), issued an order preliminarily enjoining a former Account Executive for a pyrotechnics company from soliciting the customers of his former employer.  There are several notable aspects of this decision:

1.  Employee Mobility vs. Protection of Trade Secrets: In analyzing the “public interest” considerations involved in potentially issuing a preliminary injunction, the court weighed the competing public interests related to California’s strong public policies favoring on the one hand employee mobility, and on the other hand, protection of trade secrets. The court decided to issue a time-limited injunction intended to prevent misuse of Plaintiff’s trade secrets while allowing lawful competition. In so doing, the court made some statements useful to California employers:

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