On December 19, 2012, the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee Western Division granted a preliminary injunction in favor of Smith & Nephew Inc. (“Smith”) against several former employees, barring them from contacting several of Smith’s clients.
Smith manufactures and distributes medical devices. Smith had a sales representative agreement, with the defendants of Northwest Ortho Plus, Inc., Smith claimed that former employees – now employed by Ortho Plus, Inc. – violated their non-compete clauses by diverting customers they served for Smith & Nephew. The court concluded that there is a strong likelihood that Smith will be able to prove that the non-compete clauses at issue were enforceable and were violated by the Defendants.