Summits

7, INC. V. KELLY 886 A.2d 365 (2005)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

P hired D, who had an associate's degree in graphic arts technology, to work in its customer services department for ten dollars an hour. D eventually became a sales assistant and received a fifteen percent raise. In three more months, she received another promotion and raise and, in November 2000, she was assigned to the sales department and given a $30,000 salary plus commissions. D eventually become a supervisor. Her pay increased along with the additional responsibilities, reaching $39,000 in 2001, $49,000 in 2002, and $19,000 for the first three months of 2003 before she left her employment. In January 2001, one year after P hired her, D signed a noncompetition agreement prohibiting her from working in Vermont, New Hampshire, or a designated part of New York for any direct or indirect competitor of P for a period of twelve months 'following termination of your employment for cause or a voluntary termination of employment.' Lasker signed a second agreement containing similar language in October 2002 after P purchased another company and expanded the kinds of services it provided. In April 2003, D voluntarily terminated her employment. Two months later, in June 2003, she began working for Offset House, Inc., a competitor of P located in nearby Essex Junction, Vermont. P filed a complaint seeking to enjoin D from working for Offset House. P got the judgment and $11,552 in attorney's fees. The court opined that D's continued employment with P was sufficient consideration to support the noncompetition agreement, but concluded that it was unnecessary to reach that question because the substantial promotions and raises that D received during her employment were more than reasonable consideration to support enforcement of the covenant. D appealed.