Western District of New York upholds Non-Compete and Grants TRO

Plaintiff IDG USA, LLC (“IDG”), a Georgia company with its principal place of business in North Carolina, commenced an action against a former employee, Kevin J. Schupp (“Schupp”), a New York resident, alleging breaches of a Non-Compete Agreement, breach of a Confidentiality Agreement, unfair competition, and theft of trade secrets.

In a 12 page decision, IDG USA, LLC v. Schupp, Slip Copy, 2010 WL 3260046 (W.D.N.Y. Aug.18, 2010), theDistrict Court granted IDG’s Motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction, enjoining Schupp from: (1) working for any competitor of IDG within 50 miles of IDG’s Amherst, New York office, (2) soliciting orders from IDG’s identified “major” customers with whom Schupp had had contact , and (3) disclosing or using confidential information and/or trade secrets of IDG. The court also denied Schupp’s Rule 12(c) cross-motion to dismiss the Complaint, expressly finding that IDG’s allegations that Schupp used his knowledge of IDG’s major, revenue-generating customers and its pricing policies for the benefit of his new employer, and disclosed information regarding IDG’s Amherst Office’s control over pricing issues to one of those customers were sufficient to render the causes of action plausible for purposes of a Rule 12(c) analysis.

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