Iowa – Sophisticated Employees Bound by Reasonable Restrictive Covenants; Plaintiff to Post $2 Million Bond

A recent Iowa U.S. district court decision upheld two-year, geographically reasonable, non-compete agreements signed by 26 veterinarians while they were employed by Iowa Veterinary Specialties, P.C. (IVS), a Des Moines, Iowa clinic they owned. When two of the vets and IVS’s operations manager learned that its sale to ISU Veterinary Services Corporation (VSC) was imminent, they used IVS’s business information and facilities to assist them in opening a competing veterinary clinic. VSC is a non-profit subsidiary of Iowa State University (ISU) which is home to the oldest veterinary college in the U.S. The purchase of IVS was made with public funds and was intended to be part of ISU’s mission to regain and enhance its veterinary college academic preeminence. The acquired assets included the non-compete agreements.   

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