Florida Court Finds That Employer Without Knowledge That Employees It Just Hired Have Non-Competes Are Not Liable For Tortious Interference With Contract

A defendant company was unaware, when it hired two individuals, that they had entered into non-competition agreements with their prior employer.  As a result, according to a Florida federal court, the prior employer did not have a valid cause of action against the new employer for intentionally interfering with those non-compete obligations. 

Summary of the Case

During their employment by Aerotek, a recruiting company, Zahn and Jiminez signed non-compete covenants.  Shortly after termination of their Aerotek employment, they allegedly violated the covenants by going to work for that company’s competitor C-T.  Aerotek sued C-T for tortious interference with contract.  C-T responded by moving to dismiss on the ground that it did not know about the covenants when it hired the two ex-Aerotek employees.  The motion was granted.  Aerotek, Inc. v. Zahn, Case No. 6:14-cv-293-orl-31TBS (M.D. Fla., 6/17/14).

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