Donald Brown had worked for Charles T. Creech Inc. for 16 years when the company gave him a “conflicts of interest” agreement to sign if he wanted to keep his job. Part of the agreement included language that he would not work for a competing company for three years after leaving Creech.
Brown did leave Creech to join a competitor in 2008, and Creech sued him for breaking the agreement. The case wound its way through the courts for years until the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled in Brown’s favor in 2014. In part, the court noted, Brown did not receive any promotions, raises, or special training for signing the agreement.