Restrictive Covenant of Employment Eliminated in with Prior Employer as Part of Separation Agreement

Steve Johnson was retained by a successful sales executive in the e-commerce and banking sector who sought to leave his current employer to work for a potential competitor of his prior employer.  The prior employer was seeking to “under pay” the severance for the sales executive under a threat of litigation to enforce the restrictive covenant contained in the employment contract signed by the firm’s client upon joining the prior employer.  Steve was able to obtain a fair and reasonable severance payment for his client, but even more importantly for the client, Steve was able to negotiate the language in the Separation Agreement which allowed the client to join the potential competitor without the risk of being sued for violation of the restrictive covenant signed with his prior employer.